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DOCUMENTARY SOURCE BOOK 
OF AMERICAN HISTORY 



THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

NEW YORK • BOSTON • CHICAGO 
ATLANTA • SAN FRANCISCO 

MACMILLAN & CO., Limited 

LONDON ■ BOMBAY • CALCUTTA 
MELBOURNE 

THE MACMILLAN CO OF CANADA, Ltd. 

TORONTO 



DOCUMENTARY SOURCE BOOK 

OF 

AMERICAN HISTORY 



1606-1913 



EDITED WITH NOTES 

BY 

WILLIAM MACDONALD 

PROFESSOR OF HISTORY IN BROWN UNIVERSITY 



Ar£JV AND ENLARGED EDITION, WITH CONTINUATION 

TO 1913 



THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

1916 

All rights reserved 



1^- O-^H- 2-\ 



C 173 



Copyright, 1908 and 1916, 
By the MACMILLAN COMPANY. 



Set up and electrotyped. Published August, 1908. Reprinted 
February, September, 1909; January, 1911; August, 1913; 
December, 19J4. 

New and enlarged edition, with continuation to 1913, October, 
1916. 




OCT 19 1916 



J. S. Gushing Vo. — Berwiok & Smith Co. 
iJorwooU, Mass., U.S.A. 



IC1.A44.')212 



.^- 



' ) 



PREFACE 

The present volume has been prepared in response to a 
request, frequently made by teachers who have used my " Select 
Charters," " Select Documents," and " Select Statutes," for a 
briefer collection of documents particularly designed for courses 
of instruction of an elementary or comprehensive character, 
or which cover both the colonial and the constitutional peri- 
ods of American history in a single year. In making the 
selection, accordingly, I have aimed to include such documents 
only as experience has shown to be most necessary or useful 
in comprehensive courses, bearing in mind the time available 
for the average student. The texts are the same as those in 
the three volumes named above, except the treaties, which here 
follow the better text in the United States Statutes at Large. 
Many of the documents, however, have been further condensed 
by the omission of formal, technical, or relatively unimportant - 
provisions ; a few errors in the earlier volumes have been cor- 
rected ; and some changes have been made in the notes. I shall 
be glad if the volume serves to facilitate the study, especially 
in elementary courses, of the documentary sources of American 

history. 

WILLIAM MacDONALD. 
Providence, Rhode Island, 
July, 1908. 



Contents 



\2. 

"■ 3- 
^4: 

-5- 
■ 6. 

7- 
8. 

9- 

lO. 

II. 

-12. 

-13- 
14. 

15- 

16. 

17- 
18. 

19. 
-20. 
21. 
22. 
23. 



NUMBER 

A, I. First Charter of Virginia. April 10/20, 1606 . 

Second Charter of Virginia. May 23/June 2, 1609 
Third Charter of Virginia. March 12/22, 1611/12 
Mayflower Compact. Nov. 11/21, 1620 . 
Ordinance for Virginia. July 24/Aug. 3, 1621 
First Charter of Massachusetts. March 4/14, 1628/9 
Charter of Privileges to I'atroons. June 7/17, 1629 
Charter of Maryland. June 20/30, 1632 
Fundamental Orders of Connecticut. Jan. 14/24, 1638/9 
Fundamental Articles uf New Haven. June 4/14. 1639 
Patent of Providence Plantations. March 14/24, 1643 
New England Confederation. May 19/29, 1643 . 
Government of New Haven. Oct. 27/Nov. 6, 1643 
Maryland Toleration Act. April, 1649 . 

First Navigation Act. 1660 

Charter of Connecticut. April 23/May 3, 1662 

First Charter of Carolina. March 24/April 3, 1662/3 

Charter of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. July 

1663 

Second Navigation Act. 1663 . . • • 
Grant to the Uuke of York. March 12/22, 1663/4 
Second Charter of Carolina. June 30/July 10, 1665 
Third Navigation Act. 1672 .... 
Charter of Pennsylvania. March 4/14. 1680/81 

v24^ Second Charter of Massachusetts. Oct. 7/17, r 

25. Navigation Act. April 10/20, 1696 

26. Treaty of Utrecht. March 31 /April 11, 1713 

27. Charter of Georgia. June 9/20, 1732 
,28. Molasses Act. May 17/28, 1733 . 

29. Writ of Assistance. Dec. 2, 1762 . 

,■30. Treaty of Paris. Feb. 10, 1763 

31. Royal Proclamation concerning America. Oct. 7, 1763 

32. Sugar Act. April 5, 1764 



8/18, 



PAGE 
I 

9 
14 
19 
20 
22 
26 
31 
36 
39 
43 
45 
5° 
53 
55 
60 

63 

66 
72 

74 
76 
78 
80 
84 
90 

93 
95 
103 

105 
109 

"3 
117 



VUl 



CONTENTS 



Oct. 14, 



July 6, 



1775 



NUMBER 

'33. Stamp Act. March 22, 1765 . . . . • , 

34. Quartering Act. April, 1765 

35. Resolutions of the Stamp Act Congress. Oct. 19, 1765 

36. Declaratory Act. March iS, 1766 .... 

37. Act suspending the New York Assemlily. June 15, 1767 

38. Townshend Revenue Act. June 29, 1767 

39. Massachusetts Circular Letter. Feb. 11, 1768 

40. Boston Port Act. March 31, 1774 . 

41. Massachusetts Government Act. May 20, 1774 

42. Administration of Justice Act. May 20, 1774 

43. Declaration and Resolves of the First Continental Congress 

1774 

44. The Association. Oct. 20, 1774 .... 

45. Lord North's Conciliatory Resoluti(jn. Feb. 27, 1775 

46. New Fngland Restraining Act. March 30, 1775 

47. Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking up Arms. 

1775 

48. Report on Lord North's Conciliatory Resolution. July 

49. Proclamation of Rebellion. Aug. 23, 1775 

50. Declaration of Independence. July 4, 1776 . 

51. Articles of Confederation. Nov. 15, 1777 

52. Treaty of Paris. Sept. 3, 1783 .... 

53. Ordinance of 1787. July 13, 1787 .... 

54. Constitution of the United States. Sept. 17, 1787 . 

55. Hamilton's First Report on Public Credit. Jan. 9, 1790 

56. Proclamation of Neutrality. April 22, 1793 . 

57. Treaty with Great Britain. Nov. 19, 1794 
Alien and Sedition Acts. 1798 

58. Naturalization Act. June 18, 1798 

59. Alien Act. June 25, 1798 

60. Alien Enemies Act. July 6, 1798 

61. Sedition Act. July 14, 1798 . 
Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions. 1798, 1799 

62. Kentucky Resolutions. Nov. 16, 1798 . 

63. Virginia Resolutions. Dec. 24, 1798 

64. Kentucky Resolutions. Nov. 22, 1799 . 

65. Treaty with France for the Cession of Louisiana. April 30, 1803 

66. Embargo Act. Dec. 22, 1807 .... 

67. Non-Intercourse Act. March i, 1809 

68. Declaration of War. June 18, 1812 

69. Treaty of Ghent. Dec. 24, 1 814 

70. Report of the Hartford Convention. Jan. 4, 1815 



PAGE 
122 

139 
141 

143 
146 

162 
166 
171 
172 

176 
184 
188 
190 

204 
209 
216 
233 
243 
244 
258 

259 
261 
263 
265 
267 
268 
274 
276 
279 
282 
284 
288 
289 
293 



CONTENTS 



IX 



71- 

72. 

73- 
74- 
75- 
76. 

77- 
78. 

79- 
80. 



82. 
83. 



85- 
86. 

87. 



90. 
91. 
92. 

93- 
,94- 

95- 
- 96. 

97. 

98. 

99. 
100. 

lOI. 

102. 
103. 
104. 



Act for a National Bank. April 10, 181 6 . . 

Treaty with Spain for the Floridas. Feb. 22, 181 9 

Missouri Compromise. 1820-21 .... 

Tallmadge's Amendment. Feb. 13, 1819 . . 

Taylor's Amendment. Jan. 26, 1820 . . . 

Thomas's Amendment. Feb. 17, 1820 . 

Report of the Conference Committee. March i, 1820 

Missouri Enabling Act. March 6, 1820 

Constitution of Missouri. July 19, 1820 

Resolution for the Admission of Missouri. March 2, iS 

Monroe's Message enunciating the Monroe Doctrine. Dec. 2, 1823 

The Bank Controversy : Jackson's First Annual Message. Dec. 8, 

1829 

The Bank Controversy : Jackson's Second Annual Message 

Dec. 7, 1830 

The Bank Controversy : Jackson's Third Annual Message. Dec. 6 

1831 

Jackson's Bank Veto. July 10, 1832 .... 
South Carolina Ordinance of Nullification. Nov. 24, 1832 
Jackson's Proclamation to the People of South Carolina. Dec. 10, 

1832 

Act for Enforcing the Tariff. March 2, 1833 

Removal of the Deposits. September, 1833 . 

Jackson's Paper read to the Cabinet. Sept. 18, 1833 

Taney's Instructions to the Collector at Philadelphia. Sept. 26, 1833 

Taney to the Girard Bank. Sept. 26, 1833 .... 

Taney to the Bank of the United States. Sept. 26, 1833 

Contract between the Girard Bank and the United States, Sept. 28 

1833 




March i, 1845 
May 13, 1846 



Constitution of the American Anti-Slavery Society 

Act to Regulate the Deposits. June 23, 1836 

Specie Circular. July 11, 1836 

Treaty with Great Britain. Aug. 9, 1842 

Joint Resolution for the Annexation of Texas. 

Act for the Prosecution of the Mexican War. 

Treaty with Great Britain. June 15, 1846 

Independent Treasury Act. Aug. 6, 1846 

Treaty with Mexico. Feb. 2, 1848 

Compromise of 1850 ..... 

Clay's Resolutions. Jan. 29, 1850 

Extract from the Report of the Committee of Thirteen. May 8 

Extract from the Utah Act. Sept. 9, 1850 ... 



1850 



Nebraska 



X CONTENTS 

NUMBER 

105. Extract from the Texas and New Mexico Act. Sept. 9, 1850 

106. Fugitive Slave Act. Sept. 18, 1850 

107. Act abolishing the Slave Trade in the District of Columbia 

Sept. 20, 1850 

108. Treaty with Mexico. Dec. 30, 1853 
Kansas-Nebraska Act. 1854 .... 

109. Douglas's Report. Jan. 4, 1854 .... 
no. Dixon's Proposed Amendment. Jan. 16, 1854 

111. Sumner's Proposed Amendment. Jan. 17,1854 . 

1 1 2. Extract from the Act to Organize the Territories of 

and Kansas. May 30, 1854 .... 

113. Dred Scott Decision. March 6, 1857 . . . 

114. Lecompton Constitution. Nov. 7, 1857 
^ 115. South Carolina Ordinance of Secession. Dec. 20, i860 
.^116. Constitution of the Confederate States of America. March 11 

1861 

117. Call for 75,000 Volunteers, April 15, 1861 .... 

118. Proclamation declaring a Blockade of Southern Ports. April 19 

1861 

119. Act for a National Loan. July 17, 1861 .... 

120. Act authorizing the Employment of Volunteers. July 22, 1861 
.''121. Resolution on the Nature and Object of the War. July 22, 1S61 
• 122. Act for calling out tiie Militia. July 29, i86i ... 

123. Act to define and punish certain Conspiracies. July 31, 1861 

124. Confiscation Act. Aug 6, 1861 

125. Act authorizing the Seizure of Railroad and Telegraph Lines 

Jan. 31, 1862 

126. Act authorizing the Issue of Legal Terder Notes. Feb. 25, 1862 
• 127. Act for an Additional Article of War. March 13, 1S62 

- 128. Joint Resolution on Compensated Emancipation. A])ril 10, 1862 

- 129. Act abolishing Slavery in the District of Columbia. April 16, 1862 
,- 130. Abolition of Slavery in the Territories. June 19, 1862 
^131. Oath of Office. July 2, 1862 

.132. Confiscation Act. July 17, 1S62 .... 

133. Emancipation Proclamation. Jan. i, 1863 
. 134. Enrolment Act. March 3, 1S63 .... 
. 135. Act relating to Habeas Corpus. March 3, 1863 

- 136. 'Resolution against Foreign Mediation. March 3, 1863 

- 137. Proclamation of Amnesty. Dec. 8, 1863 

- 138. National IJank Act. June 3, 1864 

139. Proclamation regarding Reconstruction. July 8, 1864 

140. Electoral Count. Feb. 8, 1865 .... 



390 

394 
394 
397 
399 
402 

403 

403 
405 
420 

423 

424 
433 

434 
436 
438 
439 
440 
441 
442 

444 
446 
448 

449 
450 

452 
452 
454 
457 
459 
463 
467 
470 

473 
482 
487 



CONTENTS 



XI 



NUME 
141. 
142. 

143- 

144. 

145- 
146. 

147. 
148. 
149. 
150. 
151. 
152. 
153- 
154. 

155- 

156. 

157- 
158. 



159. 
160. 

161. 

162. 

163. 
164. 

165. 
166. 

167. 
168. 
169. 
170. 
171. 

172. 
173- 



May 29 



June 22, 



Freedmen's Bureau. March 3, 1865 

Freedom for Soldiers' Families. March 3, 1865 . 

Proclamation appointing a Governor for North Carolina. 

1865 

Thirteenth Amendment. Dec. 18, 1865 

First Civil Rights Act. April 9, 1866 . 

Restoration of Tennessee. July 24, 1866 

Franchise in the District of Columbia. Jan. 8, 1867 

Elective Franchise in the Territories. Jan. 31, 1867 

First Reconstruction Act. March 2, 1867 

Tenure of Office Act. March 2, 1867 . 

Command of the Army. March 2, 1867 

Second Reconstruction Act. March 23, 1867 

Treaty with Russia for the Cession of Alaska. March 30, 1867 

Third Reconstruction Act. July 19, 1867 

Articles of Impeachment. March 2/3, 1868 

Fourth Reconstruction Act. March 11, 1868 

Act admitting Arkansas to Representation in Congress 

1868 

Act admitting North Carolina, South Carolina, Louisiana, Georgia, 

Alabama, and Florida to Representation in Congress 

1868 

Oath of Office. July 11, 1868 .... 

Joint Resolution excluding Electoral Votes of the Late Rebellious 

States. July 20, 1868 

Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution. July 28, 1868 . 
Provisional Governments of Virginia, Texas, and Mississippi 

Feb. 18, 1869 

Act to strengthen the Public Credit. March 18, 1869 . 
Submission of the Constitutions of Virginia, Mississippi, and Texas 

April 10, 1869 

Reconstruction of Georgia. Dec. 22, 1869 .... 
Admission of Virginia to Representation in Congress. Jan. 26- 

1870 

Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution. March 30, 1870 . 
Act to enforce the Fifteenth Amendment. May 31, 1870 . 
Act for refunding the National Debt. July 14, 1870 
Act for the Restoration of Georgia. July 15, 1870 
Supplementary Act to enforce the Fifteenth Amendment. Feb. 28, 

1871 

Act to enforce the Fourteenth Amendment. April 20, 1871 
Act removing Political Disabilities. May 22, 1872 



June 25, 



Xll 



CONTENTS 



190, 
191, 



I, 1893 
20, 1898 



NUMBER 

174. Coinage Act. Feb. 12, 1873 

175. Resumption of Specie Payments. Jan. 14, 1875 

176. Second Civil Rights Act. March i, 1875 

177. Electoral Count Act. Jan. 29, 1877 

178. Coinage of the Standard Silver Dollar. Feb. 28, 

179. Civil Service Act. Jan. 16, 1883 . 

180. Interstate Commerce A9t. Feb. 4, 1887 

181. Anti-Trust Act. July 2, 1890 

1 82. Silver Purchase Act. July 14, 1890 

183. Repeal of the Silver Purchase Act of 1890. Nov. 

184. Recognition of the Independence of Cuba. April 

185. Declaration of War. April 25, 1898 

186. Annexation of the Hawaiian Islands. July 7, 1898 

187. Treaty of Paris. Dec. 10, 1898 

188. Gold Standard Act. March 14, 1900 . 

189. Treaty with Great Britain regarding an Isthmian Canal 

ber 18, 1901 

Chinese Exclusion Act. April 29, 1902 

Act for the Construction of an Isthmian Canal 

192. Panama Canal Treaty. November 18, 1903 . 

193. Naturalization Act. June 29, 1906 

194. Prohibition of Campaign Contributions by Corporations, 

26, 1907 

195. Immigration Act. February 20, 1907 . 

196. Act relating to Expatriation. March 2, 1907 

197. Sixteenth Amendment. February 25, 1913 

198. Seventeenth Amendment. May 31, 1913 



Indkx 649 



une 28, 1902 



Novem- 



January 



565 
566 
568 
570 
573 
575 
581 

591 
593 
595 
597 
598 
600 
602 
609 

614 
616 

618 
623 
630 

635 
636 
644 
647 
647 



DOCUMENTARY SOURCE BOOK 
OF AMERICAN HISTORY 



No. I. First Charter of Virginia 

April 10/20, 1606 

The region included in the Virginia grant was claimed by Spain, but the 
close of the war between Spain and England, in 1604, left the latter free to 
extend the area of its occupation in America. Various plans for settlement 
and trade were brought forward soon after the return of Weymouth, in July, 
1605. A petition for a charter, signed by Sir Thomas Gates, Sir George 
Somers, Hakluyt, and others, was favorably considered l>y James I., and in 
April, 1606, the charter passed the seals. The first draft of the charter, 
accompanying the petition, was probably drawn by Sir John Popham, lord 
chief justice, but the final form was the work of Sir Edward Coke, attorney- 
general, and Sir John Dodderidge, solicitor-general. Royal orders and 
instructions for the government of the two colonies and the conduct of their 
affairs were issued Nov. 20/30 and Dec. 10/20, 1606. An ordinance and 
constitution of March 9/19, 1607, increased the membership of the council 
and enlarged its authority. 

References. — Text in Stith's History of Virginia (Sabin's ed., 1865), 
Appendix I. Invaluable documentary material for the early history of Vir- 
ginia, to 1616, is set forth in Brown's Genesis of the United States; see also the 
same author's First Republic in A^nerica, 1-7 1. Important contemporary 
accounts are: John Smith's A True Relation (Deane's ed., 1866, with notes), 
and General Historie (Arber's reprint) ; Wingfield's A Discourse of Virginia 
(Deane's ed., with notes, in Archceologia Americana, IV., 67-163); and A 
True Declaration of the Estate of the Colonie in Virginia (in Force's Tracts, 
III.). See further: Neill's Virginia Company; Sainsbury's Calendar of 
State Papers, Colonial, I. 

I. JAMES, by the Grace of God, King of England, Scotland, 
France, and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, &c. Whereas our 
loving and well-disposed Subjects, Sir Thomas Gates, and Sir 
George Somers, Knights, Richard Elackluit, Clerk, Prebendary of 
Westminster, and Edward-Maria Wingfield, Thomas Hanham, 
and Ralegh Gilbert, Esqrs. William Parker, and George Popham, 
Gentlemen, and divers others of our loving Subjects, have been 
humble Suitors unto us, that We would vouchsafe unto them our 
Licence, to make Habitation, Plantation, and to deduce a Colony 
of sundry of our People into that Part of America, commonly 

B I 

V 



2 FIRST CHARTER OF VIRGINIA [April 10/20 

called Virginia, and other Parts and Territories in America, either 
appertaining unto us, or which are not now actually possessed by 
any Christian Prince or People, situate, lying, and being all along 
the Sea Coasts, between four and thirty Degrees of Northerly 
Latitude from the Equinoctial Line, and five and forty Degrees 
of the same Latitude, and in the main Land between the same 
four and thirty and five and forty Degrees, and the Islands there- 
unto adjacent, or within one hundred Miles of the Coast thereof; 

II. And to that End, and for the more speedy Accomplish- 
ment of their said intended Plantation and Habitation there, 
are desirous to divide tliemselves into two several Colonies and 
Companies; The one consisting of certain Knights, Gentlemen, 
Merchants, and other Adventurers, of our City of London and 
elsewhere, which are, and from time to time shall be, joined unto 
them, which do desire to begin their Plantation and Habitation 
in some fit and convenient Place, between four and thirty and 
one and forty Degrees of the said Latitude, alongst the Coasts 
of Virginia and Coasts of America aforesaid; And the other 
consisting of sundry Knights, Gentlemen, Merchants, and other 
Adventurers, of our Cities of Bristol and Exeter, and of our Town 
of Plimoiith, and of other Places, which do join themselves unto 
that Colony, which do desire to begin their Plantation and Habi- 
tation in some fit and convenient Place, between eight and thirty 
Degrees and five and forty Degrees of the said Latitude, all alongst 
the said Coast of Virginia and America, as that Coast lyeth: 

III. We, greatly commending, and graciously accepting of, 
their Desires for the Furtherance of so noble a Work, which may, 
by the Providence of Almighty God, hereafter tend to the Glory 
of his Divine Majesty, in propagating of Christian Religion to 
such People, as yet live in Darkness and miserable Ignorance of 
the true Knowledge and Worship of God, and may in time bring 
the Infidels and Savages, living in those Parts, to human Civility, 
and to a settled and quiet Government; DO, by these our Letters 
Patents, graciously accept of, and agree to, their humble and well- 
intended Desires; 

IV. And do therefore, for Us, our Heirs, and Successors, 
GRANT and agree, that the said Sir Thomas Gates, Sir George 
Somers, Richard Tlackliiit, and Edward-Maria Wingfield, Ad- 
venturers of and for our City of London, and all such others, as 



i6o6] FIRST CHARTER OF VIRGINIA 3 

are, or shall be, joined unto them of that Colony, shall be called 
the first Colony ; And they shall and may begin their said first 
Plantation and Habitation, at any Place upon the said Coast of 
Virginia or America, where they shall think fit and convenient, 
between the said four and thirty and one and forty Degrees of the 
said Latitude; And that they shall have all the Lands, Woods, 
Soil, Grounds, Havens, Ports, Rivers, Mines, Minerals, Marshes, 
Waters, Fishings, Commodities, and Hereditaments, whatsoever, 
from the said first Seat of their Plantation and Habitation by the 
Space of fifty Miles of English Statute IMeasure, all along the said 
Coast of Virginia and America, towards the West and Southivest, 
as the Coast lyeth, with all the Islands within one hundred Miles 
directly over against the same Sea Coast ; And also all the Lands 
. . . [etc.] . . . from the said Place of their first Plantation and 
Habitation for the space of fifty like English Miles, all alongst the 
said Coast of Virginia and America, towards the East and North- 
east, or towards the North, as the Coast lyeth, together with all 
the Islands within one hundred Miles, directly over against the 
said Sea Coast; And also all the Lands . . . [etc.] . . . from 
the same fifty Miles every way on the Sea Coast, directly into the 
main Land by the Space of one hundred like English Miles ; And 
shall and may inhabit and remain there ; and shall and may also 
build and fortify within any the same, for their better Safeguard 
and Defence, according to their best Discretion, and the Discre- 
tion of the Council of that Colony; And that no other of our 
Subjects shall be permitted, or suffered, to plant or inhabit be- 
hind, or on the Backside of them, towards the main Land, without 
the Express Licence or Consent of the Council of that Colony, 
thereunto in Writing first had and obtained. 

V. And we do likewise . . . Grant and agree, that the said 
Thomas Hanham, and Ralegh Gilbert, William Parker, and 
George Popham, and all others of the Town of Plimoiith in the 
County of Devon, or elsewhere, which are, or shall be, joined unto 
them of that Colony, shall be called the second Colony; And that 
they shall and may begin their said Plantation and Seat of their 
first Abode and Habitation, at any Place upon the said Coast of 
Virginia and America, where they shall think fit and convenient, 
between eight and thirty Degrees of the said Latitude, and five 
and forty Degrees of the same Latitude; And that they shall 



4 FIRST CHARTER OF VIRGINIA [April 10/20 

have all the Lands . . . [etc.] . . . from the first Seat of their 
Plantation and Habitation by the Space of fifty like English 
Miles, as is aforesaid, all alongst the said Coast of Virginia and 
America, towards the West and Southwest, or towards the South, 
as the Coast lyeth, and all the Islands within one hundred Miles, 
directly over against the said Sea Co&st; And also all the Lands 
. . . [etc.] . . . from the said Place of their first Plantation and 
Habitation for the Space of fifty like Miles, all alongst the said 
Coast of Virginia and America, towards the East and North- 
east, or towards the North, as the Coast lyeth, and all the Islands 
also within one hundred Miles directly over against the same 
Sea Coast; And also all the Lands . . . [etc.] . . . from the 
same fifty Miles every way on the Sea Coast, directly into the 
main Land, by the Space of one hundred like English Miles. . . . 

VI. Provided always, and our Will and Pleasure herein is, 
that the Plantation and Habitation of such of the said Colonies, 
as shall last plant themselves, as aforesaid, shall not be made 
within one hundred like English Miles of the other of them, 
that first began to make their Plantation, as aforesaid. 

VII. And we do also ordain . . . that each of the said Colonies 
shall have a Council, which shall govern and order all Matters and 
Causes, which shall arise, grow, or happen, to or within the same 
several Colonies, according to such Laws, Ordinances, and Instruc- 
tions, as shall be, in that behalf, given and signed with Our Hand 
or Sign Manual, and pass under the Privy Seal of our Realm of 
England; Each of which Councils shall consist of thirteen Per- 
sons, to be ordained, made, and removed, from time to time, 
according as shall be directed and comprised in the same instruc- 
tions; And shall have a several Seal, for all Matters that shall 
pass or concern the same several Councils. . . . 

VIII. And that also there shall be a Council established here 
in England, which shall, in like Manner, consist of thirteen 
Persons, to be, for that Purpose, appointed by Us . . ., which 
shall be called our Council of Virginia; And shall, from time 
to time, have the superior Managing and Direction, only of and 
for all Matters, that shall or may concern the Government, as 
well of the said several Colonies, as of and for any other Part 
or Place, within the aforesaid Precincts of four and thirty and 
five and forty Degrees, above mentioned. . . . 



i6o6] FIRST CHARTER OF VIRGINIA 5 

IX. And moreover, we do Grant . . . that the said several 
Councils, of and for the said several Colonies, shall and lawfully 
may, by Virtue hereof, from time to time, without any Interruption 
of Us . . ., give and take Order, to dig, mine, and search for all 
Manner of Mines of Gold, Silver, and Copper, as well within 
any part of their said several Colonies, as for the said main Lands 
on the Backside of the same Colonies; And to Have and enjoy 
the Gold, Silver, and Copper, to be gotten thereof, to' the Use 
and Behoof of the same Colonies, and the Plantations thereof; 
Yielding therefore, to Us . . . the fifth Part only of all the same 
Gold and Silver, and the fifteenth Part of all the same Copper, 
so to be gotten or had, as is aforesaid, without any other Manner 
of Profit or Account, to be given or yielded to Us . . . for or in 
Respect of the same : 

X. And that they shall, or lawfully may, establish and cause 
to be made a Coin, to pass current there between the People of 
those several Colonies, for the more Ease of Traffick and Bar- 
gaining between and amongst them and the Natives there, of 
such Metal, and in such Manner and Form, as the said several 
Councils there shall limit and appoint. 

XL And we do likewise . . . give full Power and Authority to 
the said Sir TJwmas Gales . . . [and others] . . ., and to every of 
them, and to the said several Companies, Plantations, and Colonies, 
that they . . . shall and may, at all and every time and times 
hereafter, have, take, and lead in the said Voyage, and for and 
towards the said several Plantations and Colonies, and to travel 
thitherward, and to abide and inhabit there, in every the said 
Colonies and Plantations, such and so many of our Subjects, as 
shall willingly accompany them, or any of them, in the said 
Voyages and Plantations ; With sufficient Shipping, and Furniture 
of Armour, Weapons, Ordinance, Powder, Victual, and all other 
things, necessary for the said Plantations, and for their Use and 
Defence there : Provided always, that none of the said Persons be 
such, as shall hereafter be specially restrained by Us. . . . 

XII. Moreover, we do . . . Give and grant Licence unto 
the said Sir Thomas Gates . . . [and others] . . ., and to every of 
the said Colonies, that they . . . shall and may ... for their 
several Defences, encounter, expulse, repel, and resist, as well by 
Sea as by Land, by all Ways and Means whatsoever, all and 



6 FIRST CHARTER OF VIRGINIA [April 10/20 

every such Person and Persons, as without the especial Licence 
of the said several Colonies and Plantations, shall attempt to in- 
habit within the said several Precincts and Limits of the said 
several Colonies and Plantations, or any of them, or that shall en- 
terprise or attempt, at any time hereafter, the Hurt, Detriment, or 
Annoyance, of the said several Colonies or Plantations: 

XIII. Giving and granting, by these Presents, unto the said 
Sir Thofnas Gates . . . [and others] . . . and their Associates 
of the said first Colony, and unto the said Thomas Hanham . . . 
[and others] . . . and their Associates of the said second Colony 
. . . Power and Authority to take and surprise, by all Ways and 
Means whatsoever, all and every Person and Persons, with their 
Ships, Vessels, Goods and other Furniture, which shall be found 
trafficking, into any Harbour or Plarbours, Creek or Creeks, or 
Place, within the Limits or Precincts of the said several Colonies 
and Plantations, not being of the same Colony, until such time, 
as they, being of any Realms cr Dominions under our Obedience, 
shall pay, or agree to pay, to the Hands of the Treasurer of that 
Colony, within whose Limits and Precincts they shall so traffick, 
two and a half upon every Hundred, of any thing, so by them 
trafficked, bought, or sold ; And being Strangers, and not Subjects 
under our Obeysance, until they shall pay fi\e upon every Hundred, 
of such Wares and Merchandises, as they shall traffick, buy, or sell, 
within the Precincts of the said several Colonies, wherein they 
shall so traffick, buy, or sell, as aforesaid; Which Sums of Money, 
or Benefit, as aforesaid, for and during the Space of one and 
twenty Years, next ensuing the Date hereof, shall be wholly em- 
ploied to the Use, Benefit, and Behoof of the said several Plan- 
tations, where such Traffick shall be made; And after the said 
one and twenty Years ended, the same shall be taken to the Use 
of Us . . . by such Officers and Ministers, as by Us . . . shall 
be thereunto assigned or appointed. 

XIV. And we do further . . . Gr^e and grant unto the 
said Sir Thomas Gates . . . [and others] . . ., and to their As- 
sociates of the said first Colony and Plantation, and to the said 
Thomas Hanham . . . [and others] . . ., and their Associates 
of the said second Colony and Plantation, that they ... by 
their Deputies, Ministers, and Factors, may transport the Goods, 
Chattels, Armour, Munition, and Furniture, needful to be used 



i6o6] FIRST CHARTER OF VIRGINIA 7 

by them, for their said Apparel, Food, Defence, or otherwise in 
Respect of the said Phmtations, out of our Realms of England 
and Ireland, and all other our Dominions, from time to time, 
for and during the Time of seven Years, next ensuing the Date 
hereof, for the better Relief of the said several Colonies and 
Plantations, without any Custom, Subsidy, or other Duty, unto 
Us ... to be yielded or paid for the same. 

XV. Also we do . . . Declare . . . that all and every the Persons, 
being our Subjects, which shall dwell and inhabit within every or 
any of the said several Colonies and Plantations, and every of 
their children, which shall happen to be born within any of the 
Limits and Precincts of the said several Colonies and Plantations, 
shall HAVE and enjoy all Liberties, Franchises, and Immunities, 
within any of our other Dominions, to all Intents and Purposes, 
as if they had been abiding and born, within this our Realm of 
England, or any other of our said Dominions. 

XVI. Moreover, our gracious Will and Pleasure is, and we 
do . . . declare and set forth, that if any Person or Persons, 
which shall be of any of the said Colonies and Plantations, or any 
other, which shall tra flick to the said Colonies and Plantations, or 
any of them, shall, at any time or times hereafter, transport any 
Wares, Merchandises, or Commodities, out of any our Dominions, 
with a Pretence to land, sell, or otherwise dispose of the same, 
within any the Limits and Precincts of any the said Colonies and 
Plantations, and yet nevertheless, being at Sea, or after he hath 
landed the same within any of the said Colonies and Plantations, 
shall carry the same into any other Foreign Country, with a Purpose 
there to sell or dispose of the same, without the Licence of Us . . . 
in that Behalf first had and abtained; That then, all the Goods 
and Chattels of such Person or Persons, so offending and trans- 
porting, together with the said Ship or Vessel, wherein such 
Transportation was made, shall be forfeited to Us . . . 

XVII. Provided always, and our Will and Pleasure is, and we 
do hereby declare to all Christian Kings, Princes, and States, 
that if any Person or Persons, which shall hereafter be of any of 
the said several Colonies and Plantations, or any other, by his, 
their or any of their Licence and Appointment, shall, at any time 
or times hereafter, rob or spoil, by Sea or by Land, or do any 
Act of unjust and unlawful Hostility, to any the Subjects of Us. . . 



8 FIRST CHARTER OF VIRGINIA [April 10/20 

or any the Subjects of any King, Prince, Ruler, Governor, or 

State, being then in League or Amity with Us . . ., and that 
upon such Injury, or upon just Complaint of such Prince, Ruler, 
Governor, or State, or their Subjects, We . . . shall make open 
Proclamation, within any of the Ports of our Realm of England, 
commodious for that Purpose, That the said Person or Persons, 
having committed any such Robbery or Spoil, shall, within the 
Term to be limited by such Proclamations, make full Restitution 
or Satisfaction of all such Injuries done, so as the said Princes, 
or others, so complaining, may hold themselves fully satisfied 
and contented; And that, if the said Person or Persons, having 
committed such Robbery or Spoil, shall not make, or cause to 
be made. Satisfaction accordingly, within such Time so to be 
limited. That then it shall be lawful to Us ... to put the said 
Person or Persons, having committed such Robbery or Spoil, and 
their Procurers, Abetters, or Comforters, out of our Allegiance 
and Protection ; And that it shall be lawful and free, for all Princes 
and others, to pursue with Hostility the said Offenders, and every 
of them, and their and every of their Procurers, Aiders, Abetters, 
and Comforters, in that Behalf. 

XVIII. And finally, we do . . . Grant and agree, to and with 
the said Sir Thomas Gates . . . [and others] . . ., and all others 
of the said lirst Colony, that We . . ., upon Petition in that Behalf 
to be made, shall, by Letters-patent under the Great Seal of England, 
Give and Grant unto such Persons, their Heirs, and Assigns, as 
the Council of that Colony, or the most Part of them, shall, for that 
Purpose nominate and assign, all the Lands, Tenements, and 
Hereditaments, which shall be within the Precincts limited for that 
Colony, as is aforesaid, To be holden of Us, our Heirs, and 
Successors, as of our Manor at East-Greenwich in the County of 
Kent, in free and common Soccage only, and not in Capite: 

XIX. [Tenure of land under the second colony as in Section 
XVIII.] 

XX. All which Lands, Tenements, and Hereditaments, so to 
be passed by the said several Letters-patent, shall be sufficient 
Assurance from the said Patentees, so distributed and divided 
amongst the Undertakers for the Plantation of the said several 
Colonies, and such as shall make their Plantations in either of 
the said several Colonies, in such Manner and Form, and for such 



1609] SECOND CHARTER OF VIRGINIA g 

Estates, as shall be ordered and set down by the Council of the 
said Colony, or the most Part of them, respectively, within which 
the same Lands, Tenements, and Hereditaments shall lye or be; 
Although express Mention of the true yearly Value or Certainty of 
the Premises, or any of them, or of any other Gifts or Grants, by 
Us or any of our Progenitors or Predecessors, to the aforesaid Sir 
Thomas Gates . . . [and others] . . ., or any of them, heretofore 
made, in these Presents, is not made; Or any Statute, Act, Or- 
dinance, or Provision, Proclamation, or Restraint, to the con- 
trary hereof had, made, ordained, or any other Thing, Cause, or 
Matter whatsoever, in any wise notwithstanding. . . . 



No. 2. Second Charter of Virginia 

May 23/June 2, 1609 

In January, 1609, Newport returned from Virginia, bringing various papers 
setting forth the condition of the colony. The first charter, in itself essen- 
tially experimental, had already proved defective; and this, together with 
the discouraging outlook for the Compar , led to an application for a new 
charter, with larger and more specific privileges. The first drafts of both the 
second and the third charters, annexed to the petitions, were probably drawn 
by Sir Edwin Sandys, but the final form in each case was the work of Sir 
Henry Hobart, attorney-general, and Sir Francis Bacon, solicitor-general. 
With the second charter the connection between the Plymouth Company and 
the London Company ceased, and the latter became a separate corporate body. 

References. — Text in Stith's History of Virginia (Sabin's ed., 1865), 
Appendix II. The Records of the Virginia Company of London, 1619-1624, 
have been edited by Susan M. Kingsbury; see also Brown's First Republic 
in America, 73-165. 

[The charter begins with a recital of the grant of 1606, and 
continues :] 

II. Now, forasmuch as divers and sundry of our loving Sub- 
jects, as well Adventurers, as Planters, of the said first Colony 
. . . have of late been humble Suitors unto Us, that (in Respect 
of their great Charges and the Adventure of many of their Lives, 
which they have hazarded in the said Discovery and Plantation 
of the said Country) We would be pleased to grant them a further 
Enlargement and Explanation of the said Grant, Privileges, and 



lO SECOND CHARTER OF VIRGINIA [May 23/June 2 

Liberties, and that such Counsellors, and other Officers, may be 
appointed amongst them, to manage and direct their afifairs, as are 
willing and ready to adventure with them, as also whose Dwellings 
are not so far remote from the City of London, but that they may, 
at convenient Times, be ready at Hand, to give their Advice and 
Assistance, upon all Occasions requisite. 

III. We . . . Do . . . Give, Grant, and Confirm, to our 
trusty and well-beloved Subjects, Robert, Earl of Salisbury . . . 
[and others '] . . . ; And to such, and so many, as they do, or 
shall hereafter, admit to be joined with them, in Form hereafter 
in these Presents expressed, whether they go in their Persons, to 
be Planters there in the said Plantation, or whether they go not, 
but adventure their Monies, Goods, or Chattels; That they shall 
be one Body or Commonalty perpetual, and shall have perpetual 
Succession, and one common Seal, to serve for the said Body or 
Commonalty; And that they, and thei'; Successors, shall be known, 
CALLED, and incorporated by the Name of. The Treasurer and 
Company of Adventurers and Planters of the City of London for 
the first Colony in Virginia: 

VI. And we do also . . . give, grant and confirm, unto the 
said Treasurer and Company, and their Successors, under the Reser- 
vations, Limitations, and Declarations, hereafter expressed, all 
those Lands, Countries, and Territories, situate, lying, and being, 
in that Part of America called V^irginia, from the Point of Land, 
called Cape or Point Comfort, all along the Sea Coast, to the 
Northward two hundred Miles, and from the said Point of Cape 
Comfort, all along the Sea Coast, to the Southward two hundred 
Miles, and all that Space and Circuit of Land, lying from the Sea 
Coast of the Precinct aforesaid, up into the Land, throughout 
from Sea to Sea, West, and Northwest; And also all the Islands, 
lying within one hundred Miles, along the Coast of both Seas of 
the Precinct aforesaid. . . . 

VII. And nevertheless, our Will and Pleasure is, and we do, 
by these Presents, charge, command, warrant, and authorise, 

' "The incorporators of this charter were 56 city companies of London and 
659 persons; of whom 21 were peers, 96 knights, 11 doctors, ministers, etc., 53 
captains, 28 esquires, 58 gentlemen, no merchants, and 282 citizens and others 
not classified." Brown's Genesis of the United States, I., 228, note i. The list 
of incorporators is given in full by Brown. — Ed. 



1609] SECOND CHARTER OF VIRGINIA n 

that the said Treasurer and Company, or their Successors, or the 
major Part of them, which shall be present and assembled for 
that Purpose, shall, from time to time, under their Common Seal, 
Distribute, convey, assign, and set over, such particular Por- 
tions of Lands, Tenements, and Hereditaments, by these Presents, 
formerly granted, unto such our loving Subjects, naturally born, 
or Denizens, or others, as well Adventurers as Planters, as by the 
said Company (upon a Commission of Survey and Distribution, 
executed and returned for that Purpose), shall be nominated, 
appointed, and allowed; Wherein our Will and Pleasure is, that 
Respect be had, as well of the Proportion of the Adventurer, as 
to the special Service, Hazard, Exploit, or Merit of any Person, 
so to be recompenced, advanced, or rewarded. 

VIII. And forasmuch, as the good and prosperous Success of 
the said Plantation cannot but chiefly depend, next under the 
Blessing of God, and the Support of our Royal Authority, upon 
the provident and good Direction of the whole Enterprize, by a 
careful and understanding Council, and that it is not convenient, 
that all the Adventurers shall be so often drawn to meet and 
assemble, as shall be requisite for them to have Meetings and 
Conference about the Affairs thereof; Therefore we DO ORDAIN, 
establish, and confirm, that there shall be perpetually one Council 
here resident, according to the Tenour of our former Letters- 
patents . . . 

XIII. And further ... we do . . . Give and Grant full 
Power and Authority to our said Council, here resident, as well 
at this present Time, as hereafter from time to time, to nominate, 
make, constitute, ordain, and confirm, by such Name or Names, 
Stile or Stiles, as to them shall seem good, And likewise to revoke, 
discharge, change, and alter, as well all and singular Governors, 
Officers, and Ministers, which already have been made, as also 
which hereafter shall be by them thought fit and needful to be 
made or used, for the Government of the said Colony and Plan- 
tation : 

XIV. And also to make, ordain, and establish all Manner of 
Orders, Laws, Directions, Instructions, Forms, and Ceremonies 
of Government and Magistracy, fit and necessary, for and con- 
cerning the Government of the said Colony and Plantation; And 

r 



12 SECOND CHARTER OF VIRGINIA [May 23/June 2 

the same, at all times hereafter, to abrogate, revoke, or change, 
not only within the Precincts of the said Colony, but also upon 
the Seas in going and coming, to and from the said Colony, as 
they, in their good Discretion, shall think to be fittest for the 
Good of the Adventurers and Inhabitants there. 

******** 

XVI. And we do further . . . Ordain and establish, that 
the said Treasurer and Council here resident, and their Successors, 
or any four of them, being assembled (the Treasurer being one) 
shall, from time to time, have full Power and Authority, to admit 
and receive any other Person into their Company, Corporation, 
and Freedom; And further, in a General Assembly of the Ad- 
venturers, with the Consent of the greater Part, upon good Cause, 
to disfranchise and put out any Person or Persons, out of the said 
Freedom or Company. 

XIX. And for their further Encouragement . . . we do . . . 
Yield and Grant, to and with the said Treasurer and Company, 
and their Successors, and every of them, their Factors, and 
Assigns, that they, and every of them, shall be free of all Sub- 
sidies and Customs in Virginia, for the Space of one and twenty 
Years, and from all Taxes and Impositions, for ever, upon any 
Goods or Merchandises, at any time or times hereafter, either 
upon Importation thither, or Exportation from thence, into our 
Realm of England, or into any other of our Realms or Dominions, 
by the said Treasurer and Company, and their Successors, their 
Deputies, Factors, or Assigns, or any of them: Except only the 
five Pounds per Cent, due for Custom, upon all such Goods and 
Merchandises, as shall be brought or imported into our Realm of 
England, or any other of these our Dominions, according to the 
ancient Trade of Merchants ; Which five Pounds per Cent, only 
being paid, it shall be thenceforth lawful and free for the said 
Adventurers, the same Goods and Merchandises to export, and 
carry out of our said Dominions, into foreign Parts, without any 
Custom, Tax, or other Duty, to be paid to us ... or to any 
other our Officers or Deputies: Provided, that the said Goods 
and Merchandises be shipped out, within thirteen Months, after 
their first Landing within any Part of these Dominions. 



1609] SECOND CHARTER OF VIRGINIA 13 

XXIII. And forasmuch, as it shall be necessary for all such 
our loving Subjects, as shall inhabit within the said Precincts of 
Virginia, aforesaid, to determine to live together, in the Fear 
and true Worship of Almighty God, Christian Peace, and civil 
Quietness, each with other, whereby every one may, with more 
Safety, Pleasure, and Profit, enjoy that, whereunto they shall 
attain with great Pain and Peril; We ... do give and grant 
unto the said Treasurer and Company, and their Successors, and 
to such Governors, Officers, and Ministers, as shall be, by our 
said Council, constituted and appointed, according to the Natures 
and Limits of their Offices and Places respectively, that they 
shall and may, from time to time for ever hereafter, within the 
said Precincts of Virginia, or in the way by Sea thither and from 
thence, have full and absolute Power and Authority, to correct, 
punish, pardon, govern, and rule, all such the Subjects of Us 
... as shall, from time to time, adventure themselves in any 
Voyage thither, or that shall, at any time hereafter, inhabit in 
the Precincts and Territories of the said Colony, as aforesaid, 
according to such Orders, Ordinances, Constitutions, Directions, 
and Instructions, as by our said Council, as aforesaid, shall be 
established; And in Defect thereof, in case of Necessity, accord- 
ing to the good Discretions of the said Governor and Officers, 
respectively, as well in Cases capital and criminal as civil, both 
marine and other; So always, as the said Statutes, Ordinances, 
and Proceedings, as near as conveniently may be, be agreeable 
to the Laws, Statutes, Government, and Policy of this our Realm 
of England. 

XXIV. And we do further . . . grant, declare, and ordain, 
that such principal Governor, as, from time to time, shall duly 
and lawfully be authorised and appointed, in Manner and Form 
in these Presents heretofore expressed, shall have full Power and 
Authority, to use and exercise Martial Law, in Cases of Rebellion 
or Mutiny, in as large and ample Manner, as our Lieutenants in 
our Counties, within this our Realm of England, have, or ought 
to have, by Force of their Commissions of Lieutenancy. 

XXIX. And lastly, because the principal Effect, which we can 
desire or expect of this Action, is the Conversion and Reduction 
of the People in those Parts unto the true Worship of God and 



14 THIRD CHARTER OF VIRGINIA [March 12/22 

Christian Religion, in which Respect we should be loath, that 
any Person should be permitted to pass, that we suspected to 
affect the superstitions of the Church of Rome; We do he'rebv 
CECLARE, that it is our Will and Pleasure, that none be permitted 
to pass in any Voyage, from time to time to be made into the 
said Country, but such, as first shall have taken the Oath cf 
Supremacy; For which Purpose, we do, by these Presents, give 
full Power and Authority, to the Treasurer for the time being, 
and any three of the Council, to tender and exhibit the said Oath, 
to all such Persons, as shall at any time, be sent and employed 
in the said Voyage. . . . 



No. 3. Third Charter of Virginia 

March 12/22, 1611/12 

The immediate reason for the third charter of Virginia was the desire to 
include within the limits of the Company the Bermudas, or Somers Islands, 
respecting whose beauty, fertility, and wealth glowing reports had been re- 
ceived; but the failure of many subscribers to pay their subscriptions, and the 
consequent low state of the treasury, emphasized the need of stronger powers 
of control. The petition was probably granted before November, 1610; but 
the names of subscribers were obtained with difficulty, and it was March, 161 2, 
before the charter passed the seals. The rights in the Bermudas were subse- 
quently sold by the Company to some of its own members, who, in 16 14, 
obtained a charter as the Somers Islands Company. The Virginia charter 
of 1612 was annulled by writ of quo warranto in 1624. 

References. — Text in Stith's History of Virginia (.Sabin's ed., 1865), 
Appendix III. Hening's Statutes at Large, I., gives the early laws of the 
colony. The royal proclamation of 1625 is in Hazard's Historical Collectio/is, 
I., 203-205. See also Brown's First Republic in America, 165-648. 

[The charter begins with a recital of the grant of 1609, and 
continues :] 

III. Now, forasmuch as we are given to understand, that in 
those Seas, adjoining to the said Coasts of Virginia, and without 
the Compass of those two hundred Miles . . ., and yet not far 
distant from the said Colony in Virginin, there are, or may be, 
divers Islands, lying desolate and uninhabited, some of which are 
already made known and discovered, by the Industry, Travel, and 
Expences of the said Company, and others also are supposed to be 



(6ii/i2] THIRD CHARTER OF VIRGINIA 15 

and remain, as yet, unknown and undiscovered, all and every of 
which it may import the said Colony, both in Safety and Policy 
of Trade, to populate and plant, in Regard whereof, as well for 
the preventing of Peril, as for the better Commodity and Pros- 
perity of the said Colony, they have been humble Suitors unto 
us, that we would be pleased to grant unto them an Enlargement 
of our said former Letters Patents . . . : 

IV. We therefore . . , do . . . Give, Grant, and Confirm 
to the said Treasurer and Company of Adventurers and Planters 
of the city of London for the first Colony in Virginia, and to their 
Heirs and Successors, for ever, all and singular those Islands 
whatsoever, situate and being in any Part of the Ocean Seas 
bordering upon the Coast of our said first Colony in Virginia, 
and being within three hundred Leagues of any of the Parts hereto- 
fore granted to the said Treasurer and Company, in our said 
former Letters Patents, as aforesaid, and being within or between 
the one and fortieth and thirtieth Degrees of Northerly Latitude; 
. . . Provided always, that the said Islands, cr any the Premises 
herein mentioned, or by these Presents intended or meant to be 
granted, be not actually possessed or inhabited by any other 
Christian Prince or Estate, nor be within the Bounds, Limits, 
or Territories of the Northern Colony, heretofore by Us granted 
to be planted by divers of our loving Subjects, in the North Parts 
of Virginia . . . 

VII. And We do hereby ordain and grant . . . that the 
said Treasurer and Company of Adventurers and Planters afore- 
said, shall and may, once every Week, or oftener, at their Pleasure, 
hold and keep a Court and Assembly, for the better Order and 
Government of the said Plantation, and such things, as shall 
concern the same. . . . 

VIII. And that nevertheless, for the handling, ordering, and 
disposing of Matters and Affairs of greater Weight and Impor- 
tance, and such, as shall or may, in any Sort, concern the Weal 
Publick and general Good of the said Company and Plantation, 
as namely, the Manner of Government from time to time to be 
used, the Ordering and Disposing of the Lands and Possessions, 
and the Settling and Establishing of a Trade there, or such like, 
there shall be held and kept, every Year, upon the last Wednes- 



l6 THIRD CHARTER OF VIRGINIA [March 12/22 

day, save one, of Hillary Term, Easter, Trinity, and Michaelmas 
Terms, for ever, one great, general, and solemn Assembly, which 
four Assemblies shall be stiled and called, The Jour Great and 
General Courts of the Council and Company of Adventurers for 
Virginia; In all and every of which said Great and General Courts, 
so assembled . . ., the said Treasurer and Company, or the greater 
Number of them, so assembled, shall and may have full Power 
and Authority ... to elect and chuse discreet Persons, to be of 
our said Council for the said first Colony in Virginia, and to nomi- 
nate and appoint such Officers, as they shall think fit and requisite, 
for the Government, Managing, Ordering, and Dispatching of 
the Affairs of the said Company; And shall likewise have full 
Power and Authority, to ordain and make such Laws and Ordi- 
nances, for the Good and Welfare of the said Plantation, as to them, 
from time to time, shall be thought requisite and meet : So always, 
as the same be not contrary to the Laws and Statutes of this our 
Realm of England. . . . 

******** 

XIV. And furthermore, whereas we have been certified, that 
divers lewd and ill-disposed Persons, both Sailers, Soldiers, Ar- 
tificers, Husbandmen, Labourers, and others, having received 
Wages, Apparel, and other Entertainment from the said Com- 
pany, or having contracted and agreed with the said Company, to 
go, or to serve, or to be employed in the said Plantation of the 
said first Colony in Virginia, have afterwards, either withdrawn, 
hid, or concealed themselves, or have refused to go thither, after 
they have been so entertained and agreed withal; And that 
divers and sundry Persons also, which have been sent and em- 
ployed in the said Plantation of the said first Colony in Virginia, 
at and upon the Charge of the said Company, and having there 
misbehaved themselves by Mutinies, Sedition, or other notorious 
Misdemeanors, or having been employed or sent abroad, by the 
Governor of Virginia or his Deputy, with some Ship or Pinnace, 
for our Provision of the said Colony, or for some Discovery, or 
other Business and Affairs, concerning the same, have from thence 
most treacherously, either come back again and returned into our 
Realm of England, by Stealth, or without Licence of our Governor 
of our said Colony in Virginia for the time being, or have been 
sent hither, as Misdoers and Offenders; And that many also of 



i6ii/i2] THIRD CHARTER OF VIRGINIA 1 7 

those Persons, after their Return from thence, having been ques- 
tioned by our said Council here, for such their Misbehaviors and 
Offences, by their insolent and contemptuous Carriage in the 
Preseftce of our said Council, have shewed httle Respect and 
Reverence, either to the Place, or Authority, in which we have 
placed and appointed them; And others, for the colouring of 
their Lewdness and Misdemeanors committed in Virginia, have 
endeavoured, by most vile and slanderous Reports, made and 
divulged, as well of the Country of Virginia, as also of the Gov- 
ernment and Estate of the said Plantation and Colony, as much as 
in them lay, to bring the said Voyage and Plantation into Dis- 
grace and Contempt ; By Means whereof, not only the Adventurers 
and Planters, already engaged in the said Plantation, have been 
exceedingly abused and hindered, and a great Number of other 
our loving and well-disposed Subjects, otherwise well-affected, 
and inclined to join and adventure in so noble, christian, and 
w^orthy an Action, have been discouraged from the same, but 
also the utter Overthrow and Ruin of the said Enterprise hath 
been greatly endangered, which cannot miscarry without some 
Dishonour to Us and our Kingdom; 

XV. Now, forasmuch as it appeareth unto us, that these Inso- 
lences, Misdemeanors, and Abuses, not to be tolerated in any 
civil Government, have, for the most part, grown and proceeded, 
in regard our said Council have not any direct Power and Au- 
thority, by any express Words in our former Letters Patents, to 
correct and chastise such Offenders; We therefore, for more 
speedy Reformation of so great and enormous Abuses and Mis- 
demeanors, heretofore practised and committed, and for the pre- 
venting of the like hereafter, do . . . give and grant to the said 
Treasurer and Company, and their Successors for ever, that it 
shall and may be lawful for our said Council for the said first 
Colony in Virginia, or any two of them (whereof the said 
Treasurer, or his Deputy . . . , to be always one) by Warrant 
under their Hands, to send for, or to cause to be apprehended, 
all and every such Person and Persons, who shall be noted, or 
accused, or found, at any time or times hereafter, to offend, or 
misbehave themselves, in any the Offences before mentioned and 
expressed; And upon the Examination of any such Offender or 
Offenders, and just Proof made by Oath, taken before the said 



l8 THIRD CHARTER OF VIRGINIA [March 12/22 

Council, of any such notorious Misdemeanors by them committed, 
as aforesaid; And also upon any insolent, and contemptuous, or 
indecent Carriage and Misbehaviour, to or against our said Coun- 
cil, shewed or used by any such Person or Persons, so 'called, 
convented, and appearing before them, as aforesaid; That in all 
such Cases, they, our said Council, or any two of them, for the 
time being, shall and may have full Power and Authority, either 
here to bind them over with good Sureties for their good Be- 
haviour, and further therein to proceed, to all Intents and Pur- 
poses, as it is used, in other like Cases, within our Realm of 
England; Or else, at their Discretions, to remand and send back, 
the said Offenders, or any of them, unto the said Colony in Vir- 
ginia, there to be proceeded against and punished, as the Gov- 
ernor, Deputy, or Council there . . . shall think meet; or other- 
wise, according to such Laws and Ordinances, as are and shall 
be in Use there, for the Well-ordering and good Government of 
the said Colony. 

XVI. And for the more effectual Advancing of the said Plan- 
tation, we do further . . . Give and Grant, unto the said Treas- 
urer and Company, full Power and Authority, free Leave, Liberty, 
and Licence, to set forth, erect, and publish, one or more Lottery 
or Lotteries, to have Continuance ... for the Space of our [one] 
whole Year, next after the Opening of the same; And after the 
End and Expiration of the said Term, the said Lottery or Lotteries 
to continue and be further kept, during our Will and Pleasure only, 
and not otherwise. . . . 

XVII. And our further Will and Pleasure is, that the said 
Lottery and Lotteries shall and may be opened and held, within 
our City of London, or in any other City or Town, or else- 
where, within this our Realm of England, with such Prizes, 
Articles, Conditions, and Limitations, as to them, the said 
Treasurer and Company, in their Discretions, shall seem con- 
venient : 

XX. And further, our Will and Pleasure is, that in all Ques- 
tions and Doubts, that shall arise, upon any Difficulty of Con- 
struction or Interpretation of any Thing, contained in these, or 
any other our former Letters-patents, the same shall be taken and 
interpreted, in most ample and beneficial Manner for the said 



i6ii/i2] MAYFLOWER COMPACT 19 

Treasurer and Company, and their Successors, and every Mem- 
ber thereof. 

XXI. And lastly, we do, by these Presents, ratify and con- 
firm unto the said Treasurer and Company, and their Successors, 
for ever, all and all Manner of Privileges, Franchises, Liberties, 
Immunities, Preheminences, Profits, and Commodities, whatso- 
ever, granted unto them in any our former Letters-patents, and 
not in these Presents revoked, altered, changed, or abridged. 



No. 4. Mayflower Compact 

November 11/21, 1620 

The Mayflower Compact, drawn up on shipboard, was intended not only 
as a basis for the government of the colony in the absence of a patent, but 
also, according to Bradford, as an offset to the "discontented and mutinous 
speeches" of some of the company, to the effect that when they landed "they 
would use their own liberty; for none had power to command them, the 
patent they had being for Virginia, and not for New England, which belonged 
to another government, with which the Virginia Company had nothing to do." 

References. — Text in Bradford's History of Plymouth Plantation, Mass. 
Hist. Coll., Fourth Series, III., 89, 90. Bradford does not give a list of 
signers. On the early history of the Plymouth Colony, see Mourt's Relation 
(Baxter's ed., 1865) ; Morton's New England Memorial; Young's Chronicles 
of the Pilgrim Fathers, 1602-1625; Arber's Story of the Pilgrim Fathers. 
The laws of the colony, 1623-1682, are in the Plymouth Colony Records, XL 

In the name of God, Amen. We whose names are underwritten, 
the loyall subjects of our dread soveraigne Lord, King James, 
. . . haveing undertaken, for the gloria of God, and advance- 
mente of the Christian faith, and honour of our king & countrie, 
a voyage to plant the first colonie in the Northerne parts of Vir- 
ginia, doe by these presents solemnly & mutualy in the presence 
of God, and one of another, covenant & combine our selves to- 
geather into a civill body politick, for our better ordering & pres- 
ervation & furtherance of the ends aforesaid; and by vertue 
hearof to enacte, constitute, and frame such just & equall lawes, 
ordinances, acts, constitutions, & offices, from time to time, as 
shall be thought most meete & convenient for the generall good 
of the Colonie, unto which we promise all due submission and 
obedience. . . . 



20 ORDINANCE FOR VIRGINIA July 24/ August 3 



No. 5. Ordinance for Virginia 

July 24/ August 3, 162 1 

The first assembly in Virginia, and the first representative assembly in 
America, was convened July 30/Aug. 9, 1619, by Governor Yeardley, under 
authority of a commission executed by the Virginia Company in November, 
1618; and the ordinance of 1621, probably of similar tenor, granted to the 
colony for the future the same form of government. The model here outlined 
was closely followed by the later English colonies. 

References. — Text in Stith's History of Virginia (Sabin's ed., 1865), 
Appendix IV. The records of the assembly of 1619 are in Hening's Statutes 
at Large, I. The "Orders and Constitutions" of 1619-1620 are in Force's 
Tracts, III. See also W. W. Henry's First Legislative Assembly in America, 
in Report of Amer. Hist. Assoc, 1893, pp. 301-316; Brown's First Republic 
in America, 308-324. 

An Ordinance and Constitution of the Treasurer, Council, and 
Company in England, for a Council of State and General 
Assembly. 

I. To all People, to whom these Presents shall come, be seen, 
or heard. The Treasurer, Council, and Company of Adventurers 
and Planters for the city of London for the first Colony of Vir- 
ginia, send Greeting. Know ye, that we . . . have thought 
fit to make our Entrance, by ordering and establishing such 
Supreme Councils, as may not only be assisting to the Governor 
for the time being, in the Administration of Justice, and the 
Executing of other Duties to this Office belonging, but also, by 
their vigilant Care and Prudence, may provide, as well for a 
Remedy of all Inconveniences, growing from time to time, as 
also for the advancing of Increase, Strength, Stability, and Pros- 
perity of the said Colony: 

II. We therefore . . . by Authority directed to us from his 
Majesty under the Great Seal, upon Mature Deliberation, do 
hereby order and declare, that, from hence forward, there shall 
be Two Supreme Councils in Virginia, for the better Govern- 
ment of the said Colony aforesaid. 

III. The one of which Councils, to be called The Council 
OF State (and whose Office shall chiefly be assisting, with their 



i62i] ORDINANCE FOR VIRGINIA 21 

Care, Advice, and Circumspection, to the said Governor) shall 
be chosen, nominated, placed, and displaced, from time to time, 
by Us, the said Treasurer, Council, and Company, and our Suc- 
cessors: Which Council of State shall consist, for the present, 
only of these persons, as are here inserted, viz. Sir Francis Wyat, 
Governor of Virginia, Captain Francis West, Sir George Yeardley, 
Knight, Sir William Neuce, Knight Marshal of Virginia, Mr. 
George Sandys, Treasurer, Mr. George Thorpe, Deputy of the 
College, Captain Thomas Neuce, Deputy for the Company, Mr. 
Pawlet, Mr. Leech, Captain Nathaniel Powel, Mr. Christopher 
Davison, Secretary, Dr. Pots, Physician to the Company, Mr. 
Roger Smith, Mr. John Berkeley, Mr. John Rolfe, Mr. Ralph 
Hamer, Mr. John Pountis, Mr. Michael Lapworth, Mr. Harwood, 
Mr. Samuel Macock. Which said Counsellors and Council we 
earnestly pray and desire, and in his Majesty's Name strictly 
charge and command, that (all Factions, Partialities, and sinister 
Respect laid aside (they bend their Care and Endeavours to assist 
the said Governor; first and principally, in the Advancement of 
the Honour and Service of God, and the Enlargement of his 
Kingdom amongst the Heathen People; and next, in erecting 
of the said Colony in due Obedience to his Majesty, and all lawful 
Authority from his Majesty's Directions; and lastly, in maintain- 
ing the said People in Justice and Christian Conversation amongst 
themselves, and in Strength and Ability to withstand their Enemies. 
And this Council, to be always, or for the most Part, residing 
about or near the Governor. 

IV. The other Council, more generally to be called by the 
Governor, once Yearly, and no oftener, but for very extraordinary 
and important Occasions, shall consist, for the present, of the 
said Council of State, and- of two Burgesses out of every Town, 
Hundred, or other particular Plantation, to be respectively chosen 
by the Inhabitants : Which Council shall be called The General 
Assembly, wherein (as also in the said Council of State) all Mat- 
ters shall be decided, determined, and ordered, by the greater 
Part of the Voices then present; reserving to the Governor always 
a Negative Voice. And this General Assembly shall have free 
Power to treat, consult, and ccnclude, as well of all emergent 
Occasions concerning the Publick Weal of the said Colony and 
every Part thereof, as also to make, ordain, and enact such gen- 



22 FIRST CHARTER OF MASSACHUSETTS [March 4/14 

eral Laws and Orders, for the Behoof of the said Colony, and the 
good Government thereof, as shall, from time to time, appear 
necessary or requisite; 

V. Whereas in ail other Things, we require the said General 
Assembly, as also the said Council of State, to imitate and follow 
the Policy of the Form of Government, Laws, Customs, and Man- 
ner of Trial, and other Administration of Justice, used in the 
Realm of England, as near as may be, even as ourselves, by his 
Majesty's Letters Patent are required. 

VI. Provided, that no Law or Ordinance, made in the said 
General Assembly, shall be or continue in Force or Validity, 
unless the same shall be solemnly ratified and confirmed, in a 
General Quarter Court of the said Company here in England, 
and so ratified, be returned to them under our Seal ; It being our 
Intent to afiford the like Measure also unto the said Colony, that 
after the Government of the said Colony shall once have been 
well framed, and settled accordingly . . . and the same shall 
have been so by us declared, no Orders of Court afterwards shall 
bind the said Colony, unless they be ratified in like Manner in 
the General Assemblies. 

******** 



No. 6. First Charter of Massachusetts 

March 4/14, 1628/9 

The attempt of the Dorchester Adventurers to establish a colony on Cape 
Ann, in 1623, as a base for fishing operations, failed; but there were a few 
scattered settlements in the region of Massachusetts Bay when, March 19/29, 
1627/8, a grant for a land and trading company was obtained from the Coun- 
cil for New England. The patent was confirmed, with the addition of powers 
of government, by the royal charter of March 4/14, 1628/9. A local govern- 
ment, known as "London's Plantation in Massachusetts Bay in New Eng- 
land," was established at Salem, under the direction of John Endicott. In 
1630 the charter and government of the colony were transferred to America, 
and the local government under Endicott was discontinued. The charter re- 
mained in force until 1684, when it was annulled by writ of scire facias. 

References. — Text in Records of the Governor and Company of the 
Massachusetts Bay in New England, I., 3-19. The grant of 1627/8 is re- 
cited in the charter. Important contemporary documents and accounts are 



1628/9] FIRST CHARTER OF MASSACHUSETTS 23 

collected in Young's Chronicles of Massachusetts. See also Winthrop's His^ 
tory of New England (Savage's ed.), I.; Winthrop's Life and Letters of John 
Winthrop, II.; Sainsbury's Calendar of State Papers, Colonial, I. 

[The charter begins with a recital of the patent of 1620 to the 
Council for New England, and the subsequent grant by the Coun- 
cil, in March, 1627/8, to Sir Henry Rosewell and others, which 
last-mentioned grant is by this present charter confirmed, and 
continues:] 

And further knowe yee, That . . . Wee ... by theis presents 
doe . . . give and graunt unto the said Sir Henry Rosewell, Sir 
John Younge, Sir Richard SaJtonstall, Thomas Southcott, John 
Humfrey, John Endecott, Symon Whetcombc, Isaack Johnson, 
Samuell Aldersey, John Ven, Mathewe Cradock, George Har- 
wood, Increase Nowell, Richard Pery, Richard Bellingham, 
Nathaniel Wright, Samuell Vassall, Theophilus Eaton, Thomas 
Goffe, Thomas Adams, John Browne, Samuell Browne, Thomas 
Hutchins, William Vassall, William Pinchion, and George Fox- 
crofte, theire heires and assignes, AH that parte of Newe England 
in America which lyes and extendes betweene a great river there 
commonlie called Monomack river, alias Merrimack river, and 
a certen other river there called Charles river, being in the bot- 
tome of a certen bay there commonlie called Massachusetts, alias 
Mattachusetts, alias Massatusetts bay : And also all and singuler 
those landes and hereditaments whatsoever, lyeing within the 
space of three Englishe myles on the south parte of the saide 
river called Charles river, or of any or every parte thereof: And 
also all and singuler the landes and hereditaments . . . lyeing 
and being within the space of three Englishe myles to the south- 
ward of the southernmost parte of the said baye called Massa- 
chusetts . . . : And also all those landes and hereditaments 
. . . which lye and be within the space of three English myles 
to the northward of the saide river called Monomack, alias Merry- 
mack, or to the northward of any and every parte thereof, and 
all landes and hereditaments . . . lyeing within the lymitts 
aforesaide, north and south, in latitude and bredth, and in length 
and longitude, of and within all the bredth aforesaide, throughout 
the mayne landes there from the Atlantick and westerne sea and 
ocean on the east parte, to the south sea on the west parte : . . . 



24 FIRST CHARTER OF MASSACHUSETTS [March 4/14 

and also all islandes in America aforesaide, in the saide seas, or 
either of them, on the westerne or easterne coastes, or partes of 
the said tracts of landes hereby mentioned to be given and graunted 
. . . , and free libertie of fishing in or within any the rivers or 
waters within the boundes and lymytts aforesaid, and the seas 
thereunto adjoining: . . . [To be held in free and common 
socage, and paying one fifth part of all gold and silver ores.] 
And . . . wee will and ordeyne, That the saide Sir Henry Rose- 
well , . . [and others] . . . , and all such others as shall here- 
after be admitted and made free of the Company and Society 
hereafter mentioned, shall . . . be . . . one body corporate and 
politique in fact and name, by the name of the Governor and 
Company of the Mattachusetts Bay in Newe England . , , 
And wee doe hereby . . . graunte. That . . . there shalbe one 
Governor, one Deputy Governor, and eighteene Assistants . . . , 
to be from tyme to tyme . . . chosen out of the freemen of the 
saide Company, for the tyme being, in such manner and forme 
as hereafter in theis presents is expressed. Which said officers 
shall applie themselves to take care for the best disposeing and 
ordering of the generall buysines and affaires of . . . the saide 
landes and premisses . . . , and the plantacion thereof, and the 
government of the people there. And . . . wee doe . . . nomi- 
nate . . . the saide Mathewe Cradocke to be the first and present 
Governor of the said Company, and the saide Thomas Goffe to 
be Deputy Governor . . . , and the said Sir Richard Saltonstall, 
Isaack Johnson, Samuell Aldersey, John Ven, John Humfrey, 
John Endecott, Simon Whetcombe, Increase Noell, Richard Pery, 
Nathaniell Wright, Samuell Vassall, Theophilus Eaton, Thomas 
Adams, Thomas Hutchins, John Browne, George Foxcrofte, 
William Vassall, and William Pinchion to be the present Assistants 
. . . , to continue in the saide severall offices respectivelie for such 
tyme and in such manner as in and by theis presents is hereafter 
declared and appointed. [The Governor or Deputy Governor 
may give order for the assembling of the Company.] And that 
the said Governor, Deputie Governor, and Assistants . . . shall 
or male once every moneth, or oftener at their pleasures, assem- 
ble, and houlde, and keepe a Courte or Assemblie of themselves, 
for the better ordering and directing of their affaires. [Seven or 
more Assistants, with the Governor or Deputy Governor, to be a 



1638/9] FIRST CHARTER OF MASSACHUSETTS 25 

sufficient Court.] and that there shall or maie be held . . . , 
upon every last Wednesday in Hillary, Easter, Trinity, and Michas 
termes respectivelie for ever, one greate, generall, and solempe 
Assemblie, which foure Generall Assemblies shalbe stiled and 
called the Foure Greate and Generall Courts of the saide Com- 
pany : In all and every or any of v^^hich saide Greate and Generall 
Courts soe assembled, Wee doe . . . graunte . . . That the Gov- 
ernor, or, in his absence, the Deputie Governor . . . and such 
of the Assistants and freemen . . . as shalbe present, or the greater 
nomber of them soe assembled, whereof the Governor or Deputie 
Governor and six of the Assistants, at the least to be seaven, 
shall have full power and authoritie to choose, nominate, and 
appointe such and soe many others as they shall thinke fitt, and 
that shall be willing to accept the same, to be free of the said 
Company and Body, and them into the same to admitt, and to 
elect and constitute such officers as they shall thinke fitt and 
requisite for the ordering, mannaging, and dispatching of the 
affaires of the saide Governor and Company. . . . And wee 
doe . . . ordeyne. That yearely once in the yeare for ever here- 
after, namely, the last Wednesday in Easter tearme yearely, the 
Governor, Deputy Governor, and Assistants . . . , and all other 
officers of the saide Company, shalbe, in the Generall Court or 
Assembly to be held for that day or tyme, newly chosen for the 
yeare ensueing by such greater parte of the said Company for the 
tyme being, then and there present, as is aforesaide. . . . And 
wee doe . . . graunt . . . , That it shall ... be lawfull to and for 
the Governor or Deputie Governor and such of the Assistants and 
Freemen of the said Company . . . as. shalbe assembled in any of 
their Generall Courts aforesaide, or in any other Courtes to be 
specially summoned and assembled for that purpose, or the greater 
parte of them, (whereof the Governor or Deputie Governor and 
six of the Assistants, to be alwaies seaven), from tyme to tyme to 
make, ordeine, and establishe all manner of wholesome and rea- 
sonable orders, lawes, statutes, and ordinances, directions, and in- 
structions not contrarie to the lawes of this our realme of England, 
aswell for setling of the formes and ceremonies of government 
and magistracy fitt and necessary for the said plantation and the 
inhabitants there, and for nameing and stiling of all sortes of 
officers, both superior and inferior, which they shall finde neede- 



26 CHARTER OF PRIVILEGES TO PATROONS [June 7/17 

full for that governement and plantation, and the distinguishing 
and setting forth of the severall duties, powers, and lymytts of 
every such ofiice and place, and the formes of such oathes war- 
rantable by the lawes and statutes of this our rcalme of England 
as shalbe respectivelie ministred unto them, for the execution of 
the said severall offices and places, as also for the disposing and 
ordering of the elections of such of the said officers as shalbe 
annuall, and of such others as shalbe to succeede in case of death 
or removeall, and ministring the said oathes to the newe elected 
officers, and for impositions of lawfull fynes, mulcts, imprison- 
ment, or other lawfull correction, according to the course of other 
corporations in this our realme of England, and for the directing, 
ruling, and disposeing of all other matters and thinges whereby 
our said people, inhabitants there, male be soe religiously, peace- 
ablie, and civilly governed, as their good life and orderlie con- 
versation male wynn and incite the natives of [that] country to 
the knowledg and obedience of the onlie true God and Savior of 
mankinde, and the Christian fayth, which, in our royall intention 
and the adventurers free profession, is the principall ende of this 
plantation. . . . Provided also . . . , That theis presents shall 
not in any manner enure, or be taken to abridge, barr, or hinder 
any of our loving subjects whatsoever to use and exercise the 
trade of fishing upon that coast of New England in America by 
theis presents mentioned to be graunted. . . . 



No. 7. Charter of Privileges to Patroons 

June 7/17, 1629 

The government of the Dutch West India Company, chartered in 1621, 
was vested in five chambers, or boards, estabhshed in as many Dutch cities, 
with a board of nineteen for the exercise of general executive powers. Of the 
chambers, that of Amsterdam was the most important. The region known 
as New Nethcrland was not named in the charter, but was included within the 
jurisdiction of the Company. On the final organization of the Company 
under the charter, in 1623, New Netherland was made a province, and placed 
under the immediate control of the Amsterdam chamber. The continued 
unprofitableness, however, of the trade of New Nethcrland, except the fur 
trade, led to a change of policy; and the Charter of Privileges to patroons, 
drafted in March, 1628, but not adopted by the board of nineteen until June, 



1629] CHARTER OF PRIVILEGES TO PATROONS 27 

1629, was intended to encourage private individuals to establish settlements 
at various points on the Hudson and Delaware, or North and South, rivers. 
Numerous grievances, occasioned by friction between the patroons and the 
Company, were partially allayed by a new charter in 1640, restricting the area 
of the grants, and encouraging independent settlement; but the feudal privi- 
leges of the patroons were not interfered with. "Many of the old patroon 
estates long remained undivided, and the heirs of the founders claimed some 
semi-feudal privileges well into the nineteenth century." 

References. — Text in Documents relative to the Colonial History of the 
State of New York, II., 553-557. On the Dutch West India Company, see 
O'Callaghan's History of New Netherland; the charter of 1621 is in Hazard's 
Historical Collections, I., 121-131. 

FREEDOMS AND EXEMPTIONS 

Granted by the Board of the Nineteen of the Incorpo- 
rated West India Company, to all Patroons, Masters 
OR Private Persons who will plant Colonies in New 

Netherland 
******** 

III. All such shall be acknowledged Patroons of New Nether- 
land who shall, within the space of four years next after they 
have given notice to any of the Chambers of the Company here, 
or to the Commander or Council there, undertake to plant a Colo- 
nie there of fifty souls, upwards of fifteen years old; one-fourth 
part within one year, and within three years after the sending of 
the first, making together four years, the remainder, to the full 
number of fifty persons . . . ; but it is to be observed that the 
Company reserve the Island of the Manhattes to themselves. 
******** 

V. The Patroons, by virtue of their power, shall and may be 
permitted, at such places as they shall settle their Colonies, to 
extend their limits four leagues along the shore, that is, on one 
side of a navigable river, or two leagues on each side of a river, 
and so far into the country as the situation of the occupiers will 
permit; provided and conditioned that the Company keep to 
themselves the lands lying and remaining between the limits of 
Colonies, to dispose thereof, when and at such time as they shall 
think proper, in such manner that no person shall be allowed to 
come within seven or eight leagues of them without their consent, 
unless the situation of the land thereabout be such that the Com- 



28 CHARTER OF PRIVILEGES TO PATROONS [June 7/1^ 

mander and Council, for good reasons, should order otherwise 
. . . ; the command of each bay, river or island, of the first settled 
Colonie, remaining, moreover, under the supreme jurisdiction of 
their High Mightinesses the States-General and the Company. . . . 
VI. They shall forever possess and enjoy all the lands lying 
within the aforesaid limits, together with the fruits, rights, min- 
erals, rivers and fountains thereof; as also the chief command 
and lower jurisdictions, fishing, fowling and grinding, to the ex- 
clusion of all others, to be holden from the Company as a per- 
petual inheritance, without it ever devolving again to the Company, 
and in case it should devolve, to be redeemed and repossessed 
with twenty guilders per Colonie, to be paid to this Company, at 
the Chamber here or to their Commander there, within a year and 
six weeks after the same occurs, each at the Chamber where he 
originally sailed from; and further, no person or persons whatso- 
ever shall be privileged to fish and hunt but the Patroons and such 
as they shall permit. And in case any one should in time prosper 
so much as to found one or more cities, he shall have power and 
authority to establish officers and magistrates there, and to make 
use of the title of his Colonie, according to his pleasure and to 
the quality of the persons. 

X. The Patroons and colonists shall be privileged to send their 
people and effects thither, in ships belonging to the Company, 
provided they take the oath, and pay to the Company for bring- 
ing over the people, as mentioned in the first article and for 
freight of the goods, five per cent, ready money, to be reckoned 
on the prime cost of the goods here, in which is, however, not 
to be included such cattle and implements as are necessary for 
the cultivation and improvement of the lands, which the Com- 
pany are to carry over without any reward, if there is room in 
their ships. . . . 

XII. Inasmuch as it is intended to people the Island of the 
Manhattes first, all fruits and wares that are produced on the lands 
situate on the North river, and lying thereabout, shall, for the 
present, be brought there before being sent elsewhere, excepting 
such as are, from their nature, unnecessary there, or such as can- 
not, without great loss to the owner thereof, be brought there, in 



1629] CHARTER OF PRIVILEGES TO PATROONS 29 

which case the owners thereof shall be obliged to give timely 
notice in writing of the difficulty attending the same to the Com- 
pany here, or the Commander and Council there, that the same 
may be remedied as the necessity thereof shall be found to re- 
quire. 

XIII. All the Patroons of Colonies in New Netherland, and 
of Colonies on the Island of Manhattes, shall be at liberty to sail 
and traffic all along the coast, from Florida to Terra Neuf, pro- 
vided that they do again return with all such goods as they shall 
get in trade to the Island of Manhattes, and pay five per cent 
duty to the Company, in order, if possible, that, after the neces- 
sary inventory of the goods shipped be taken, the same may be 
sent hither. And if it should so happen that they could not 
return, by contrary streams or otherwise, they shall, in such case, 
not be permitted to bring such goods to any other place but to 
these dominions, in order that, under the inspection of the Di- 
rectors of the place where they may arrive, they may be unladen, 
an inventory thereof made, and the aforesaid duty of five per 
cent paid to the Company here, on pain, if they do the contrary, 
of the forfeiture of their goods so trafficked for, or the real value 
thereof. 

XV. It shall be also free for the aforesaid Patroons to traffic 
and trade all along the coast of New Netherland and places cir- 
cumjacent, with such goods as are consumed there, and receive 
in return for them all sorts of merchandise that may be had there, 
except beavers, otters, minks, and all sorts of peltry, which trade 
the Company reserve to themselves. But the same shall be per- 
mitted at such places where the Company have no factories, con- 
ditioned that such traders shall be obliged to bring all the peltry 
they can procure to the Island of Manhattes, in case it may be, 
at any rate, practicable, and there deliver to the Director, to be 
by him shipped hither with the ships and goods; or, if they 
should come here without going there, then to give notice thereof 
to the Company, that a proper account thereof may be taken, in 
order that they may pay to the Company one guilder for each 
merchantable beaver and otter skin; the property, risk and all 
other charges remaining on account of the Patroons or owners. 

XVI. All coarse wares that the Colonists of the Patroons there 



30 CHARTER OF PRIVILEGES TO PATROOXS [June 7/17 

shall consume, such as pitch, tar, weed-ashes, wood, grain, fish, 
salt, hearthstone and such like things shall be conveyed in the 
Company's ships, at the rate of eighteen guilders per last. . . . 

X\"II. For all wares which are not mentioned in the foregoing 
article, and which are not carried by the last, there shall be paid 
one dollar for each hundred pounds weight; and for wines, 
brandies, verjuice and vinegar, there shall be paid eighteen 
guilders per cask. 

X\'III. The Company promises the colonists of the Patroons 
that they shall be free from customs, taxes, excise, imposts or 
any other contributions for the space of ten years; and after the 
expiration of the said ten years, at the highest, such customs as 
the goods pay here for the present. 

XXIII. WTiosoever, whether colonists of Patroons for their 
Patroons, or free persons for themselves, or others for their mas- 
ters, shall discover any shores, bays or other fit places for erecting 
fisheries, or the making of salt ponds, they may take possession 
thereof, and begin to work on them as their own absolute prop- 
erty, to the exclusion of all others. And it is consented to that 
the Patroons of colonists may send ships along the coast of New 
Netherland, on the cod fishery, and with the fish they catch, 
trade to Italy or other neutral countries, paying in such cases to 
the Company a duty of six guilders per last; and if they should 
come with their lading hither, they shall be at liberty to proceed 
to Italy, though they shall not, under pretext of this consent, or 
leave from the Company, carry any goods there, on pain of arbi- 
trary punishment. . . . 

XXI\'. In case any of the colonists should, by his industry and 
diligence, discover any minerals, precious stones, cr^-stals, mar- 
bles or such like, or any pearl fishery, the same shall be and 
remain the property of the Patroon or Patroons of such Colonie, 
giving and ordering the discoverer such premium as the Patroon 
shall beforehand have stipulated with such colonist by contract. 
And the Patroons shall be exempt from the payment of dut}' to 
the Company for the term of eight years, and pay only for freight, 
to bring them over, two per cent, and after the expiration of the 
aforesaid eight years, for duty and freight, the one-eighth part of 
what the same mav be worth. 



1629] CH.\RTER OF MARYLAND 31 

XX\7I. The Patroons and colonists shall in particular, and in 
the speediest manner, endeavor to find out ways and means 
whereby they may support a Minister and Schoolmaster, that thus 
the service of God and zeal for religion may not grow cool and 
be neglected among them, and they shall, for the first, procure 
a Comforter of the sick there. 

******** 

XXIX. The Colonists shall not be permitted to make any 
woolen, linen or cotton cloth, nor weave any other stuffs there, 
on pain of being banished, and as perjurers, to be arbitrarily 
punished. 

XXX. The Company will use their endeavors to supply the 
colonists with as many Blacks as they conveniently can, on the 
conditions hereafter to be made, in such manner, however, that 
they shall not be bound to do it for a longer time than they shall 
think proper. 

XXXI. The Company promise to finish the fort on the Island 
of the Manhattes, and to put it in a posture of defence without 
delav. 



No. 8. Charter of Mar}dand 

June 20/30. 1632 

George Cal\t;rt, first Lord Baltimore, had been a member of the Vir- 
ginia Company, and, as one of the two principal secretaries of state, was a 
member of the Committee of the Council for Plantation Affairs. In 1620 he 
purchased a tract of land in Newfoundland, for which, imder the name of 
Avalon, he obtained from James I., in 1623, a patent as proprietor. He vis- 
ited his pro\'ince in 1627, with the intention of remaining; but the advantages 
of the region had been exaggerated, and the climate was such as to discourage 
colonization. In 1629 he went to Virginia, but was obliged to leave on his 
refusal, as a Catholic, to take the oaths of allegiance and supremacy. Re- 
turning to England, he obtained from Charles I. a grant of land north of the 
Potomac. Baltimore died shortly before the patent passed the seals, and the 
charter was issued to his son, Cecil, second Lord Baltimore, June 20/30, 1632. 
The region granted to Baltimore had been included in the Virginia grant of 
1609; but the revocation of the third charter in 1624 had left Virginia a royal 
proN-ince, with its unsettled portions subject to allotment at the pleasure of the 
king. Former members of the Virginia Company protested against the grant; 



32 CHARTER OF MARYLAND [June 20/30 

but the protest was ineffectual, and Virginia was directed to befriend the new 
colony. 

References. — Text, Latin and English, in Bacon's Laws of Maryland. 
The early legislation of the colony may be followed in Bacon, and in Mary- 
land Archives, I. See also Sainsbury's Calendar of State Papers, Colonial, I. 

CHARLES . . . [&c.] . . . 

II. Whereas our well beloved and right trusty Subject CJE- 
CILIUS CALVERT, Baron of BALTIMORE, in our Kingdom 
of Ireland, Son and Heir of George Calvert, Knight, late Baron 
of Baltimore, in our said Kingdom of Ireland, treading in the 
Steps of his Father, being animated with a laudable, and pious 
Zeal for extending the Christian Religion, and also the Territories 
of our Empire, hath humbly besought Leave of Us, that he may 
transport, by his own Industry, and Expence, a numerous Colony 
of the English Nation, to a certain Region, herein after described, 
in a Country hitherto uncultivated, in the Parts of America, and 
partly occupied by Savages, having no Knowledge of the Divine 
Being, and that all that Region, with some certain Privileges, 
and Jurisdictions, appertaining unto the wholesome Govern- 
ment, and State of his Colony and Region aforesaid, may by our 
Royal Highness be given, granted, and confirmed unto him, and 
his Heirs. 

III. Know ye therefore, that WE ... by this our present 
CHARTER ... do Give, Grant, and Confirm, unto the afore- 
said C.ECILIUS, now Baron of BALTIMORE, his Heirs, and 
Assigns, all that Part of the Peninsula, or Chersonese, lying in the 
Parts of America, between the Ocean on the East, and the Bay of 
Chesapeake on the West, divided from the Residue thereof by a 
Right Line drawn from the Promontory, or Head-Land, called 
Watkiii's Point, situate upon the Bay aforesaid, near the River of 
Wighco, on the West, unto the Main Ocean on the East; and be- 
tween that Boundary on the South, unto that Part of the Bay of 
Delaware on the North, which lyeth under the Fortieth Degree of 
North Latitude from the .Equinoctial, where Neiv-En gland is 
terminated. And all the Tract of that Land within the ISIetes 
underwritten [that is to say) passing from the said Bay, called 
Delaware Bay, in a right Line, by the Degree aforesaid, unto 
the true Meridian of the first Fountain of the River of Pattow- 
mack, thence verging towards the South, unto the further Bank 



1632] CHARTER OF MARYLAND ^;^ 

of the said River, and following the same on the West and South, 
unto a certain Place called Cinquack, situate near the Mouth of 
the said River, where it disembogues into the aforesaid Bay of 
Chesapeake, and thence by the shortest Line unto the aforesaid 
Promontory, or Place, called Walkings Point; so that the whole 
Tract of Land, divided by the Line aforesaid, between the Main 
Ocean, and Watkin's Point, unto the Promontory called Cape- 
Charles, and every the Appendages thereof, may entirely remain 
excepted for ever to US, our Heirs, and Successors. 

IV. Also We do Grant . . . unto the said Baron of BALTI- 
MORE ... all Islands and Islets within the Limits aforesaid, 
all and singular the Islands and Islets, from the Eastern Shore 
of the aforesaid Region, towards the East, which have been, or 
shall be formed in the Sea, situate within Ten marine Leagues 
from the said Shore; . . . And further more the Patronages, 
and Advowsons of all Churches which (with the increasing Wor- 
ship and Religion of CHRIST) within the said Region . . . , 
hereafter shall happen to be built, together with Licence and 
Faculty of erecting and founding Churches, Chapels, and Places 
of Worship, in convenient and suitable Places, within the Premises, 
and of causing the same to be dedicated and consecrated accord- 
ing to the Ecclesiastical Laws of our Kingdom of England, with 
all, and singular such, and as ample Rights, Jurisdictions, Privi- 
leges, Prerogatives, Royalties, Liberties, Immunities, and royal 
Rights, and temporal Franchises whatsoever, as well by Sea as 
by Land, within the Region . . . aforesaid, to be had, exercised, 
used, and enjoyed, as any Bishop of Durham, within the Bishop- 
rick or County Palatine of Durham, in our Kingdom of England, 
ever heretofore hath had, held, used, or enjoyed, or of Right 
could, or ought to have, hold, use, or enjoy. 

V. And WE do by these Presents . . . make, create and con- 
stitute Him, the now Baron of BALTIMORE, and his Heirs, 
the True and absolute Lords and Proprietaries of the Region 
aforesaid, and of all other the Premises (except the before ex- 
cepted) saving always the Faith and Allegiance and Sovereign 
Dominion due to US ... ; TO HOLD of US ... as of our 
Castle of Windsor, in our County of Berks, in free and common 
SoccAGE, by Fealty only for all Services, and not in capite, nor 
by Knight's Service, YIELDING therefore unto US . . . two 



34 CHARTER OF MARYLAND [June 20/30 

Indian Arrows of those Parts, to be delivered at the said Castle 
of Windsor, every Year, on Tuesday in Easter-Week : And also 
the fifth Part of all Gold and Silver Ore, which shall happen 
from Time to Time, to be found within the aforesaid limits. 

VI. Now, That the aforesaid Region, thus by us granted and 
described, may be eminently distinguished above all other Re- 
gions of that Territory, and decorated with more ample Titles, 
KNOW YE, that . . . WE do . . . erect and incorporate 
the same into a PROVINCE, and nominate the same MARY- 
LAND. . . . 

VII. And forasmuch as W^E have above made and ordained 
the aforesaid now Baron of BALTIMORE, the true Lord and 
Proprietary of the whole Province aforesaid, . . . WE ... do 
grant unto the said now Baron . . . and to his Heirs, for the 
good and happy Government of the said province, free, full, 
and absolute Power, by the tenor of these Presents, to Ordain, 
Make, and Enact LAWS, of what kind soever, according to their 
sound Discretions, whether relating to the Public State of the 
said province, or the private Utility of Individuals, of and with 
the Advice, Assent, and Approbation of the Free-Meh of the same 
province, or of the greater Part of them, or of their Delegates or 
Deputies, whom WE will shall be called together for the framing 
of LAWS, when, and as often as Need shall require, by the afore- 
said now Baron of BALTIMORE . . . , and in the Form which 
shall seem best to him or them, and the same to publish under 
the Seal of the aforesaid now Baron of BALTIMORE . . . and 
duly to execute the same upon all Persons, for the Time being, 
within the aforesaid province, and the Limits thereof, or under 
his or their Government and Power, in Sailing towards MARY- 
LA N^D, or thence Returning, Outward-bound, either to Eng- 
land, or elsewhere, whether to any other Part of Our, or of any 
foreign Dominions, wheresoever established, by the Imposition 
of Fines, Imprisonment, and other Punishment whatsoever; even 
if it be necessary, and the Quality of the Offence require it, by 
Privation of Member, or Life ... So Nevertheless, that the 
Laws aforesaid be consonant to Reason and be not repugnant or 
contrary, but (so far as conveniently may be) agreeable to the Laws, 
Statutes, Customs and Rights of this Our Kingdom of England. 



1632] CHARTER OF MARYLAND 35 

XVIII. And furthermore . . . WE ... do give . . . 
unto the aforesaid now Baron of BALTIMORE . . . full and 
absolute Licence, Power, and Authority . . . [to] assign, alien, 
grant, demise, or enfeoff so many, such, and proportionate Parts 
and Parcels of the Premises, to any Person or Persons willing to 
purchase the same, as they shall think convenient, to have and to 
hold ... in Fee-simple, or Fee-tail, or for Term of Life, Lives, 
or Years; to hold of the aforesaid now Baron of BALTIMORE 
. . . by . . . such . . . Services, Customs and Rents OF THIS 
KIND, as to the same now Baron of BALTIMORE . . . shall 
seem fit and agreeable, and not immediately of US. . . . 

XIX. We also . . . do . . . grant Licence to the same Baron 
of BALTIMORE ... to erect any Parcels of Land within the 
Province aforesaid, into Manors, and in every of those Manors, 
to have and to hold a Court-Baron, and all Things which to a 
Court-Baron do belong; and to have and to keep View of Frank- 
Pledge, for the Conservation of the Peace and better Govern- 
ment of those Parts, by themselves and their Stewards, or by 
the Lords, for the Time being to be deputed, of other of those 
Manors when they shall be constituted, and in the same to exer- 
cise all Things to the View of Frank-Pledge belonging. 

XXI. And furthermore WE Will . . . that the said prov- 
ince, and the Freeholders or Inhabitants ... of the said Colony 
or Country, shall not henceforth be held or reputed a Member or 
Part of the Land of Virginia, or of any other Colony already 
transported, or hereafter to be transported, or be dependent on 
the same, or subordinate in any kind of Government, from which 
WE do separate both the said Province, and Inhabitants thereof, 
and by these Presents do WILL to be distinct, and that they may 
be immediately subject to our Crown of England, and dependent 
on the same for ever. 

XXII. [The charter to be construed in favor of Baltimore]: 
PROVIDED always, that no Interpretation thereof be made, whereby 
GOD'S holy and true Christian Religion, or the Allegiance due 
to US ... , may in any wise suffer by Change, Prejudice, or 
Diminution. . . . 



36 FUNDAMENTAL ORDERS OF CONNECTICUT [Jan. 14/24 

No. 9. Fundamental Orders of Connecticut 

January 14/24, 1638/9 

The region of the Connecticut valley, originally included within the grant 
of 1620 to the Council for New England, became the subject of rival claims 
on the part of New Netherland, Massachusetts, and Plymouth. A patent for 
the territory west of the Narragansett River, given in March, 163 1/2, by the 
Earl of Warwick, president of the Council for New England, to Lord Say 
and Sele, Lord Brook, and others, remained unused until 1635, when John 
Winthrop, the younger, arrived with a commission as governor, and built a 
fort at Saybrook, at the mouth of the Connecticut. The Dutch had already 
built a fort at Hartford, and in 1633 traders from Plymouth had established a 
post at Windsor. In the meantime, Massachusetts traders had explored the 
overland route from that colony, and their favorable reports encouraged the 
plan, already under consideration by inhabitants of Dorchester, Watertown, 
and Newtown (Cambridge), to remove to a region where greater religious and 
political freedom, as well as opportunity for material betterment, could be 
enjoyed. The plan of emigration, defeated in 1634, was approved by Massa- 
chusetts the next year, and a commission of government was granted by the 
General Court. In 1635-1636, settlements were planted at Windsor, Weth- 
ersfield, and Hartford. In 1637 the three towns assumed the control of their 
own affairs, and in January, 1638/9, drew up the constitution known as the 
Fundamental Orders of Connecticut — "the first written constitution known 
to history that created a government." 

References. — Text in Connecticut Colonial Records, I., 20-25. War- 
wick's patent of 163 1, and Winthrop's commission, are in Trumbull's His- 
tory of Connecticut (ed. 1797), I-, 525-528. 

Forasmuch as it hath pleased the Allmighty God by the wise 
disposition of his divyne providence so to Order and dispose of 
things that we the Inhabitants and Residents of Windsor, Harte- 
ford and Wethersfield are now cohabiting and dweUing in and 
uppon the River of Conectecotte and the Lands thereunto adjoyne- 
ing; And well knowing where a people are gathered togather the 
word of God requires that to mayntayne the peace and union of 
such a people there should be an orderly and decent Goverment 
established according to God, to order and dispose of the affa\Tes 
of the people at all seasons as occation shall require; doe there- 
fore assotiate and conjoyne our selves to be as one Publike State 
or Commonwelth ; and doe, for our selves and our Successors and 
such as shall be adjoyned to us att any tyme hereafter, enter into 



1638/9] FUNDAMENTAL ORDERS OF CONNECTICUT 37 

Combination and Confederation togather, to mayntayne and pre- 
searve the liberty and purity of the gospell of our Lord Jesus 
which we now professe, as also the disciplyne of the Churches, 
which according to the truth of the said gospell is now practised 
amongst us; As also in our Civell Affaires to be guided and gov- 
erned according to such Lawes, Rules, Orders and decrees as 
shall be made, ordered & decreed, as followeth : — 

I. It is Ordered . . . that there shall be yerely two generall 
Assemblies or Courts, the on [one] the second thursday in Aprill, 
the other the second thursday in September, following; the first 
shall be called the Courte of Election, wherein shall be yerely 
Chosen . . . soe many Magestrats and other pubhke Officers 
as shall be found requisitte: Whereof one to be chosen Governour 
for the yeare ensueing and untill another be chosen, and noe 
other Magestrate to be chosen for more than one yeare; provided 
allwayes there be sixe chosen besids the Governour; which being 
chosen and sworne according to an Oath recorded for that pur- 
pose shall have power to administer justice according to the Lawes 
here established, and for want thereof according to the rule of the 
word of God; which choise shall be made by all that are admitted 
freemen and have taken the Oath of Fidellity, and doe cohabitte 
within this Jurisdiction, (having beene admitted Inhabitants 
by the major part of the Towne wherein they live,) or the mayor 
parte of such as shall be then present. 

3. It is Ordered . . . that the Secretary shall not nominate 
any person, nor shall any person be chosen newly into the Mages- 
tracy which was not propownded in some Generall Courte before, 
to be nominated the next Election; and to that end yt shall be 
lawful! for ech of the Townes aforesaid by their deputyes to 
nominate any two whom they conceave fitte to be put to Election; 
and the Courte may ad so many more as they judge requisitt. 

4. It is Ordered . . . that noe person be chosen Governor 
above once in two yeares, and that the Governor be alwayes 
a member of some approved congregation, and formerly of the 
Magestracy within this Jurisdiction; and all the Magestrats 
Freemen of this Commonwelth : and that no Magestrate or other 
publike officer shall execute any parte of his or their Office before 
they are severally sworne. . . . 



38 FUNDAMENTAL ORDERS OF CONNECTICUT [Jan. 14/24 

5. It is Ordered . . . that to the aforesaid Courte of Election 
the severall Townes shall send their deputyes, and when the 
Elections are ended they may proceed in any publike searvice 
as at other Courts. Also the other Generall Courte in September 
shall be for makeing of lawes, and any other publike occation, 
which conserns the good of the Commonwelth. 

8. It is Ordered . . . that Wyndsor, Hartford and Wethers- 
field shall have power, ech Towne, to send fower of their freemen 
as their deputyes to every Generall Courte; and whatsoever 
other Townes shall be hereafter added to this Jurisdiction, they 
shall send so many deputyes as the Courte shall judge meete, 
a resonable proportion to the number of Freemen that are in the 
said Townes being to be attended therein; which deputyes shall 
have the power of the whole Towne to give their voats and alow- 
ance to all such lawes and orders as may be for the publike good, 
and unto which the said Townes are to be bownd. 

9. It is ordered . . . that the deputyes thus chosen shall have 
power and liberty to appoynt a tyme and a place of meeting to- 
gather before any Generall Courte to advise and consult of all 
such things as may concerne the good of the publike, as also to 
examine their owne Elections, whether according to the order, 
and if they or the gretest parte of them find any election to be 
illegall they may seclud such for present from their meeting, and 
returne the same and their resons to the Courte; and if yt prove 
true, the Courte may fyne the party or partyes so intruding and 
the Towne, if they see cause, and give out a warrant to goe to 
a newe election in a legall way, either in parte or in whole. Also 
the said deputyes shall have power to fyne any that shall be dis- 
orderly at their meetings, or for not comming in due tyme or place 
according to ap])oyntment. . . . 

10. It is Ordered . . . that every Generall Courte, except 
such as through neglecte of the Governor and the greatest parte 
of Magestrats the Freemen themselves doe call, shall consist of 
the Governor, or some one chosen to moderate the Court, and 
4 other Magestrats at lest, with the mayor parte of the deputyes 
of the severall Townes legally chosen; and in case the Freemen 
or mayor parte of them, through neglect or refusall of the Governor 
and mayor parte of the magestrats, shall call a Courte, it shall 



1638/9] FUNDAMENTAL ARTICLES OF NEW HAVEN 39 

consist of the mayor parte of Freemen that are present or their 
deputyes, with a Moderator chosen by them: In which said 
Generall Courts shall consist the supreme power of the Common- 
welth, and they only shall have power to make lawes or repeale 
them, to graunt levyes, to admitt of Freemen, dispose of lands 
undisposed of, to severall Townes or persons, and also shall 
have power to call ether Courte or Magestrate or any other person 
whatsoever into question for any misdemeanour, and may for just 
causes displace or deale otherwise according to the nature of the 
offence; and also may deale in any other matter that concerns 
the good of this commonwelth, excepte election of Magestrats, 
which shall be done by the whole boddy of Freemen. 

In which Courte the Governour or Moderator shall have power 
to order the Courte to give liberty of spech, and silence unceason- 
able and disorderly speakeings, to put all things to voate, and in 
case the vote be equall to have the casting voice. But non of 
these Courts shall be adjorned or dissolved without the consent 
of the major parte of the Court. 

II. It is ordered . . . that when any Generall Courte uppon 
the occations of the Commonwelth have agreed uppon any summe 
or sommes of mony to be levyed uppon the severall Townes within 
this Jurisdiction, that a Committee be chosen to sett out and 
appoynt what shall be the proportion of every Towne to pay of 
the said levy, provided the Committees be made up of an equall 
number out of each Towne. 



No. 10. Fundamental Articles of New Haven 

June 4/14, 1639 

A SETTLEMENT at New Haven was made in April, 1638, by a party of emi- 
grants under the lead of John Davenport, a prominent nonconformist minister 
of London, and Theophilus Eaton, a wealthy London merchant and former 
deputy governor of the East India Company. Most of the party had arrived 
at Boston in the summer of 1637, and were offered strong inducements to 
remain in Massachusetts ; but the religious condition of that colony, just 
emerging from the Hutchinsonian controversy, and a desire to found an in- 
dependent state on a scriptural model, determined them to remove to Con- 
necticut. For a year they lived under a "plantation covenant," apparently 



40 FUNDAMENTAL ARTICLES OF NEW HAVEN [June 4/14 

an ecclesiastical as well as corporate agreement,' in the meantime acquiring 
title to the land by deeds from the Indians. The Fundamental Articles 
were agreed upon June 4/14, 1639; in October the first general court was 
held, and the government established, with Eaton as governor. 

References. — Text in New Haven Colonial Records (1638-1649), pp. 
11-17. 

The 4th day of the 4th moneth called June 1639, all the free 
planters assembled together in a ge[neral '] meetinge to consult 
about settling civill Government according to God, and about 
the nomination of persons thatt might be founde by consent of 
all fittest in all respects for the foundation worke of a church 
w[hich] was intend to be gathered in Quinipieck. After solemne 
invocation of the name of God in prayer [for] the presence and 
help of his speritt, and grace in those weighty businesses, they 
were reminded of t[he] busines whereabout they mett [viz] for 
the establishment of such civill order as might be most p[leas]ing 
unto God, and for the chuseing the fittest men for the foundation 
worke of a church to be gather[ed]. For the better inableing 
them to discerne the minde of God and to agree accordingly con- 
cerning the establishment of civill order, Mr. John Davenport 
propounded divers quaeres to them publiquely. . . . 

This being earnestly pressed by Mr. Davenport, Mr. Robt. 
Newman was intreated to write in carracters and to read dis- 
tinctly and audibly in the hearing of all the people whatt was 
propounded and accorded on that itt might appeare thatt all con- 
sented to matters propounded according to words written by him. 

Qu^R. I. Whether the Scripturs doe holde forth a perfect rule 
for the direction and government of all men in all duet[ies] which 
they are to performe to God and men as well in the government 
of famylyes and commonwealths as in matters of the chur. 

This was assented unto by all, no man dissenting as was ex- 
pressed by holding up of hands. Afterward itt was read over to 
them thatt they might see in whatt words their vote was expressed : 
They againe expressed their consent thereto by holdeing up their 
hands, no man dissenting. 

Qu^R. 2. Whereas there was a covenant solemnly made by the 
whole assembly of free-planters of this plantation the first day of 
extraordenary humiliation which wee had after wee came together, 

* Words and letters in brackets are obliterated or illegible in the original. — Ed. 



1639] FUNDAMENTAL ARTICLES OF NEW HAVEN 41 

thatt as in matters thatt concerne the gathering and ordering of 
a chur. so likewise in all publique offices which concerne civill 
order, as choyce of magistrates and officers, makeing and repeal- 
ing of lawes, devideing allottments of inheritance and all things 
of like nature we would all of us be ordered by those rules which 
the scripture holds forth to us. ... Itt was demaunded whether 
all the free planters doe holde themselves bound by thatt covenant 
in all businesses of thatt nature which are expressed in the covenant 
to submitt themselves to be ordered by the rules held forth in the 
scripture. 

This also was assented unto by all, and no man gainesaid itt. . . . 

Qu^R. 3. Those who have desired to be received as free 
planters, and are settled in the plantation with a purp[ose,] reso- 
lution and desire thatt they may be admitted into chur. fellowship 
according to Christ as soone [as] God shall fitt them thereunto: 
were desired to express itt by holdeing up of hands: Accordingly 
a[ll] did expresse this to be their desire and purpose by holdeing 
up their hands twice, [viz] both att the [pro]posall of itt, and 
after when these written words were read unto them. 

QUiER. 4. All the free planters were called upon to expresse 
whether they held themselves bound to esta[blish] such civill 
order as might best conduce to the secureing of the purity and 
peace of the ordina[nces] to themselves and their posterity ac- 
cording to God. In answer hereunto they expressed by hold- 
[ing] up their hands twice as before. . . . 

Then Mr. Davenport declared unto them by the scripture whatt 
kinde of persons might best be trusted with matters of govern- 
ment. . . . Having thus said he satt downe, praying the com- 
pany freely to consider whether they would have [it] voted att this 
time or nott: After some space of silence Mr. Theophilus Eaton 
answered itt mi[ght] be voted, and some others allso spake to 
the same purpose, none att all opposeing itt. Then itt was pro- 
pounded to vote. 

Qu^R. 5. Whether Free Burgesses shalbe chosen out of chur. 
members they thatt are in the foundat[ion] worke of the church 
being actually free burgesses, and to chuse to themselves out of 
the li[ke] estate of church fellowship and the power of chuseing 
magistrates and officers from among themselves and the power 
off makeing and repealing lawes according to the worde, and the 



42 FUNDAMENTAL ARTICLES OF NEW HAVEN [June 4/14 

devideing of inheritances and decideing of differences thatt may 
arise, and all the businesses of like nature are to be transacted 
by those free burgesses. 

This was putt to vote and agreed unto by the lifting up of 
hands twice as in the former itt was done . . . and Mr. Robert 
Newman was desired to write itt as an order whereunto every one 
thatt hereafter should be admitted here as planters should submitt 
and testefie the same by subscribeing their names to the order, 
namely, that church members onely shall be free burgesses, and 
thatt they onely shall chuse magistrates & officers among them- 
selves to have the power of transacting all the publique civill 
affayres of this Plantation, of makeing and repealing lawcs, 
devideing of inheritances, decideing of differences thatt may arise 
and doeing all things or businesses of like nature. 

This being thus settled as a foundamentall agreement concern- 
ing civill government. Mr. Davenport proceeded to propound 
some things to consideration aboute the gathering of a chur. 
And to prevent the blemishing of the first beginnings of the chur. 
worke, Mr. Davenport advised thatt the names of such as were to 
be admitted might be publiquely propounded, to the end thatt 
they who were most approved might be chosen, for the towne 
being cast into severall private meetings wherein they thatt dwelt 
nearest together gave their accounts one to another of Gods gra- 
cious worke upon them, and pra}-ed together and conferred to 
their mutuall ediffication, sundry of them had knowledg one of 
another, and in every meeting some one was more approved of 
all then any other. For this reason, and to prevent scandalls, the 
whole company was intreated to consider whom they found fittest 
to nominate for this worke. 

Qu^R. 6. Whether are you all willing and doe agree in this 
thatt twelve men be chosen thatt their fitnesse for the foundation 
worke may be tried, however there may be more named yett itt 
may be in their power who are chosen to reduce them to twelve, 
and itt be in the power of those twelve to chuse out of themselves 
seaven that shall be most a})proved of the major part to begin the 
church. 

This was agreed upon by consent of all as was expressed by 
holdeing up of hands, and thatt so many as should be thought 
fitt for the foundation worke of the church shall be propounded 



1639] PATENT OF PROVIDENCE PLANTATIONS 43 

by the plantation, and written downe and passe without exception 
unlesse they had given pubhque scandall or offence, yett so as in 
case of publique scandall or offence, every one should have lib- 
erty to propound their exception att thatt time publiquely against 
any man that should be nominated when all their names should 
be writt downe, butt if the offence were private, thatt mens names 
might be tendered, so many as were offended were intreated to 
deale with the offender privately, and if he gave nott satisfaction, 
to bring the matter to the twelve thatt they might consider of itt 
impartially and in the feare of God. The names of the persons 
nominated and agreed upon were Mr. Theoph. Eaton, Mr. John 
Davenport, Mr. Robert Newman, Mr. Math. Gilbert, Mr. Richard 
Malbon, Mr. Nath: Turner, Eze: Chevers, Thomas Fugill, John 
Ponderson, William Andrewes, and Jer. Dixon. Noe exception 
was brought against any of those in publique, except one about 
takeing an excessive rate for meale which he sould to one of 
Pequanack in his need, which he confessed with griefe and de- 
clared thatt haveing beene smitten in heart and troubled in his 
conscience, he restored such a part of the price back againe with 
confession of his sin to the party as he thought himselfe bound 
to doe. And it being feared thatt the report of the sin was heard 
farther th[an] the report of his satisfaction, a course was con- 
cluded on to make the satisfaction known to as many as heard 
of the sinn. . . . 



No. II. Patent of Providence Plantations 

March 14/24, 1643 

In 1636 Roger Williams, lately banished from Massachusetts, established 
himself at Providence. A settlement was made at Portsmouth, under Will- 
iam Coddington, in March, 1637/8, and another at Newport in 1639. War- 
wick was planted in 1642/3, by Samuel Gorton and others. In 1643 Williams, 
through the influence of the Earl of Warwick, obtained a patent uniting the 
settlements at Providence, Portsmouth, and Newport, under the name of 
Providence Plantations. A government under the patent was not organized 
until May, 1647, at which time Warwick was admitted. The patent con- 
ferred liberal rights of self-government, but made no grant of land. 

References. — Text in Rhode Island Colonial Records, I., 143-146. The 



44 PATENT OF PROVIDENCE PLANTATIONS [March 14/24 

laws passed in 1647 are in ib., I., 147-208. See also Early Records of the 
Town 0} Providence, I.; Staples's Annals of the Town of Providence; and 
bibliographical notes in Winsor's Narr. and Crit. Hist., III., 376-380. 

. . . Whereas . . . there is a Tract of Land . . . called by 
the Name of the Narraganset-Bay; bordering Northward and 
Northeast on the Patent of the Massachusetts, East and Southeast 
on Plymouth Patent, South on the Ocean, and on the West and 
Northwest by the Indians called Nahigganneucks, alias Nar- 
ragansets; the whole Tract extending about Twenty-five English 
Miles unto the Pequot River and Country. 

And whereas divers well affected and industrious English 
Inhabitants, of the Towns of Providence, Portsmouth, and New- 
port in the tract aforesaid, have adventured to make a nearer 
neighborhood and Society with the great Body of the Narragan- 
sets, which may in Time by the blessing of God upon their 
Endeavours, lay a sure Foundation of Happiness to all America. 
And have also purchased, and are purchasing of and amongst the 
said Natives, some other Places, which may be convenient both 
for Plantations, and also for building of Ships, Supply of Pipe 
Staves and other Merchandize. And whereas the said English, 
have represented their Desire ... to have their hopeful Begin- 
nings approved and confirmed, by granting unto them a Free 
Charter of Civil Incorporation and Government; ... In due 
Consideration of the said Premises, the said Robert Earl of War- 
wick, . . . and the greater Number of the said Commissioners, 
. . . out of a Desire to encourage the good Beginnings of the 
said Planters, Do, by the Authority of the aforesaid Ordinance 
of the Lords and Commons, . . . grant ... to the aforesaid 
Inhabitants of the Towns of Providence, Portsmouth, and New- 
port, a free and absolute Charter of Incorporation, to be known 
by the Name of the Incorporation of Providence Plantations, 
in the Narraganset-Bay, in New England. — Together with 
full Power and Authority to rule themselves, and such others 
as shall hereafter inhabit within any Part of the said Tract of 
land, by such a Form of Ci\-il Government, as by voluntary con- 
sent of all, or the greater Part of them, they shall find most suit- 
al)le to their Estate and Condition; and, for that End, to make 
and ordain such Civil Laws and Constitutions, and to inflict such 



1643] NEW ENGLAND CONFEDERATION 45 

punishments upon Transgressors, and for Execution thereof, so 
to place, and displace Officers of Justice, as they, or the greatest 
Part of them, shall by free Consent agree unto. Provided never- 
theless, that the said Laws, Constitutions, and Punishments, for 
the Civil Government of the said Plantations, be conformable to 
the Lavi^s of England, so far as the Nature and Constitution of the 
place will admit. And always reserving to the said Earl, and 
Commissioners, and their Successors, Power and Authority for 
to dispose the general Government of that, as it stands in Rela- 
tion to the rest of the Plantations in America as they shall con- 
ceive from Time to Time, most conducing to the general Good 
of the said Plantations, the Honour of his Majesty, and the Ser- 
vice of the State. . . . 



No. 12. New England Confederation 

May 19/29, 1643 

The first definite suggestion of a confederation of the New England colo- 
nies appears to have been made in 1637, when certain magistrates and minis- 
ters from Connecticut held a conference on the subject with the Massachusetts 
authorities at Boston. A notice of this meeting was sent to Plymouth, but too 
late for that colony to be represented. A counter proposition from Massa- 
chusetts, in 1638, failed because of the refusal of Connecticut to allow the 
decision of a majority of the commissioners, in cases of dispute, to be final. 
The matter was again urged by Connecticut in 1639, in view of threatening 
reports from New Netherland ; but, although favorably considered by Massa- 
chusetts, nothing came of it. Fear of an Indian war led to a joint proposal to 
Massachusetts, in 1640, from Rhode Island, Connecticut, and New Haven; 
Imt Massachusetts refused to treat with Rhode Island. Finally, in 1642, 
moved by the "sad distractions in England " and the renewed danger of an 
Indian war, the Massachusetts General Court appointed a committee to treat 
w.'th the other colonics in regard to union. In May, 1643, the commissioners 
met at Boston, and agreed upon the articles following; but the representa- 
tives of Plymouth not having authority to conclude the negotiations at that 
time, the ratification of that colony was delayed until the first meeting of the 
commissioners, Sept. 4/14. Rhode Island was not a member of the confed- 
eration, and applications for admission, in 1644 and 1648, were refused, unless 
the Rhode Island settlements would acknowledge the jurisdiction of either 
Massachusetts or Plymouth. The importance of the confederation practi- 



46 NEW ENGLAND CONFEDERATION [May 19/29 

cally ceased after 1662, when New Haven was united with Connecticut; but 
the commissioners continued to hold occasional meetings until 1684. 

References. — Text in New Haven Colonial Records, 1653-1665, pp. 
562-566. The records of the commissioners are in Plymouth Colony Records, 
IX., X. Frothingham, Rise of the Republic, 63, n. 2, gives a list of the meet- 
ings. See also Winthrop's New England, passim; Hubbard's History oj 
Massachusetts {Mass. Hist. Coll., Second Series, VI.), chap. 52. 

Whereas we all came into these parts of America, with one 
and the same end and ayme, namely, to advance the Kingdome 
of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to enjoy the liberties of the Gospel, 
in purity with peace; and whereas in our settling (by a wise 
providence of God) we are further dispersed upon the Sea-Coasts, 
and Rivers, then was at first intended, so that we cannot (accord- 
ing to our desire) with convenience communicate in one Govern- 
ment, and Jurisdiction; and whereas we live encompassed with 
people of severall Nations, and strange languages, which hereafter 
may prove injurious to us, and our posterity : And forasmuch as 
the Natives have formerly committed sundry insolencies and 
outrages upon severall Plantations of the English, and have of 
late combined against us. And seeing by reason of the sad dis- 
tractions in England, which they have heard of, and by which 
they know we are hindred both from that humble way of seeking 
advice, and reaping those comfortable fruits of protection which, 
at other times, we might well expect; we therefore doe conceive 
it our bounden duty, without delay, to enter into a present Con- 
sotiation amongst our selves, for mutuall help and strength in all 
our future concernments, that, as in Nation, and Religion, so, 
in other respects, we be, and continue. One, according to the 
tenour and true meaning of the ensuing Articles. 

I. Wherefore it is fully Agreed and Concluded by and between 
the parties, or Jurisdictions [of Massachusetts, Plymouth, Con- 
necticut and New Haven] That they all be, and henceforth be 
called by the name of, The United Colonies of New-England. 

II. The said United Colonies for themselves, and their pos- 
terities doe joyntly and severally hereby enter into a firm and 
perpetuall league of friendship and amity, for offence and defence, 
mutuall advice and succour, upon all just occasions, both for pre- 
serving and propagating the truth, and liberties of the Gospel, 
and for their own mutuall safety, and wellfare. 



1643] NEW ENGLAND CONFEDERATION 47 

III. It is further agreed, That the Plantations which at present 
are, or hereafter shall be settled within the limits of the Massa- 
chusets, shall be forever under the Government of the Massa- 
chusets. And shall have peculiar Jurisdiction amongst themselves, 
as an intire body; and that Plimoiith, Connecticut, and New- 
Haven, shall each of them, in all respects, have the like peculiar 
Jurisdiction, and Government within their limits. And in refer- 
ence to the Plantations which already are setled, or shall here- 
after be erected and shall settle within any of their limits 
respectively, provided that no other Jurisdiction shall hereafter 
be taken in, as a distinct head, or Member of this Confederation, 
nor shall any other either Plantation, or Jurisdiction in present 
being, and not already in combination, or under the Jurisdiction 
of any of these Confederates, be received by any of them, nor 
shall any two of these Confederates, joyne in one Jurisdiction, 
without consent of the rest. . . . 

IV. It is also by these Confederates agreed. That the charge 
of all just Wars, whether offensive, or defensive, upon what part 
or Member of this Confederation soever they fall, shall both in 
men, provisions, and all other disbursements, be born by all the 
parts of this Confederation, in different proportions, according 
to their different abilities, in manner following, namely. That 
the Commissioners for each Jurisdiction, from time to time, as 
there shall be occasion, bring a true account and number of all 
the Males in each Plantation, or any way belonging to, or under 
their severall Jurisdictions, of what quality, or condition soever 
they be, from sixteen years old, to threescore, being inhabitants 
there. And that according to the different numbers, which from 
time to time shall be found in each Jurisdiction, upon a true, 
and just account, the service of men, and all charges of the war, 
be born by the poll: Each Jurisdiction, or Plantation, being left 
to their own just course, and custome, of rating themselves, and 
people, according to their different estates, with due respect to 
their qualities and exemptions among themselves, though the 
Confederation take no notice of any such priviledge. And that, 
according to the different charge of each Jurisdiction, and Plan- 
tation, the whole advantage of the War (if it please God so to 
blesse their endeavours) whether it be in Lands, Goods, or per- 
sons, shall be proportionably divided among the said Confederates. 



48 _ NEW ENGLAND CONFEDERATION [May 19/29 

V. It is further agreed, That if any of these Jurisdictions, or 
any Plantation under, or in Combination with them, be invaded 
by any enemy whomsoever, upon notice, and request of any three 
Magistrates of that Jurisdiction so invaded. The rest of the Con- 
federates, without any further meeting or expostulation, shall 
forthwith send ayde to the Confederate in danger, but in different 
proportion, namely the Massachusets one hundred men suffi- 
ciently armed, and provided for such a service, and journey. 
And each of the rest five and forty men, so armed and provided, 
or any lesse number, if lesse be required, according to this pro- 
portion. But if such a Confederate may be supplyed by their 
next Confederate, not exceeding the number hereby agreed, they 
may crave help there, and seek no further for the present. The 
charge to be born, as in this Article is expressed. And at their 
return to be victualled, and supplied with powder and shot (if 
there be need) for their journey by that Jurisdiction which im- 
ployed, or sent for them. . . . But in any such case of sending 
men for present ayde, whether before or after such order or altera- 
tion, it is agreed. That at the meeting of the Commissioners for 
this Confederation, the cause of such war or invasion, be duly 
considered, and if it appear, that the fault lay in the party so 
invaded, that then, that Jurisdiction, or Plantation, make just 
satisfaction, l:)oth to the invaders, whom they have injuried, and 
bear all the charges of the war themselves. . . . 

And further, if any Jurisdiction see any danger of an invasion 
approaching, and there be time for a meeting, That in such case, 
three Magistrates of that Jurisdiction may summon a meeting, at 
such convenient place, as themselves shall think meet, to con- 
sider, and provide against the threatened danger. . . . 

VI. It is also agreed, That for the managing and concluding 
of all affaires proper to, and concerning the whole Confederation, 
two Commissioners shall be chosen by, and out of the foure Juris- 
dictions, namely two for the Massachusets, two for Plimouth, two 
for .Connecticut, and two for New-haven, being all in Church- 
fellowship with us, which shall bring full power from their severall 
generall Courts respectively, to hear, examine, weigh, and deter- 
mine all affaires of war, or peace, leagues, aydes, charges, and 
numbers of men for war, division of spoyles, or whatsoever is 
gotten by conquest, receiving of more confederates, or Plantations 



'1643] NEW ENGLAND CONFEDERATION 49 

into Combination with any of these Confederates, and all things 
of like nature, which are the proper concomitants, or conse- 
quences of such a Confederation, for amity, offence, and defencCi 
not intermedling with the Government of any of the Jurisdictions, 
which by the third Article, is preserved intirely to themselves. 
... It is further agreed. That these eight Commissioners shall 
meet once every year, besides extraordinary meetings, according 
to the fifth Article to consider, treat, and conclude of all affaires 
belonging to this Confederation, which meeting shall ever be the 
first Thursday in September. And that the next meeting after 
the date of these presents, which shall be accounted the second 
meeting, shall be at Boston in the Massachusels, the third at 
Hartford, the fourth at New-haven, the fifth at Plimouth, the 
sixth and seventh at Boston; and then Hartford, New-haven, 
and Plymouth, and so in course successively. If in the mean time, 
some middle place be not found out, and agreed on, which may 
be commodious for all the Jurisdictions. 

VIII. It is also agreed, That the Commissioners for this Con- 
federation hereafter at their meetings, whether ordinary or ex- 
traordinary, as they may have Commission or opportunity, doe 
endeavour to frame and establish Agreements and Orders in 
genera 11 cases of a civil nature, wherein all the Plantations are 
interested, for preserving peace amongst themselves, and pre- 
venting (as much as may be) all occasions of war, or differences 
with others, as about the free and speedy passage of Justice in 
each Jurisdiction, to all the Confederates equally, as to their 
own, receiving those that remove from one Plantation to another, 
without due Certificates, how all the Jurisdictions may carry it 
towards the Indians, that they neither grow insolent, nor be 
injuried without due satisfaction, least War break in upon the 
Confederates, through such miscarriages. It is also agreed. 
That if any Servant run away from his Master, into any other of 
these Confederated Jurisdictions, That in such case, upon the 
Certificate of one Magistrate in the Jurisdiction, out of which 
the said Servant fled, or upon other due proof, the said Servant 
shall be delivered either to his Master, or any other that pursues, 
and brings such Certificate, or proof. And that upon the escape 
of any Prisoner whatsoever, or fugitive, for any Criminall Cause, 



50 GOVERNMENT OF NEW HAVEN [Oct. 27 /Nov. 6 

whether breaking Prison, or getting from the Officer, or otherwise 
escaping, upon the Certificate of two Magistrates of the Jurisdic- 
tion out of which the escape is made, that he was a prisoner or 
such an offendor, at the time of the escape. The Magistrates, 
or some of them, of that Jurisdiction where for the present the 
said prisoner or fugitive abideth, shall forthwith grant such a 
Warrant, as the case will bear, for the apprehending of any such 
person, and the delivery of him into the hand of the Officer, or 
other person who pursueth him. And if help be required for the 
safe returning of any such offender, it shall be granted unto him 
that craves the same, he paying the charges thereof. 

IX. And for that the justest Wars may be of dangerous conse- 
quence, especially to the smaller Plantations in these United 
Colonies, it is agreed. That neither the Massachusets, Plymouth, 
Connecticut, nor New-Haven, nor any of the Members of any of 
them, shall at any time hereafter begin undertake or engage them- 
selves, or this Confederation, or any part thereof in any War 
whatsoever (sudden exigents with the necessary consequences 
thereof excepted, which are also to be moderated, as much as 
the case will permit) without the consent and agreement of the 
forenamed eight Commissioners, or at least six of them, as in 
the sixt Article is provided. . . . 

******** 

XI. It is further agreed. That if any of the Confederates shall 
hereafter break any of these presents Articles, or be any other 
way injurious to any one of the other Jurisdictions such breach 
of Agreement, or injury shalbe duly considered, and ordered 
by the Commissioners for the other Jurisdictions, that both peace, 
and this present Confederation, may be intirely preserved without 
violation. 



No. 13. Government of New Haven 

October 27/November 6. 1643 

Independent settlements, similar to New Haven, were established at 
Guilford and Milford in 1639, and at Stamford and Southold (Long Island) 
in 1640. In 1643 these settlements united with New Haven in a representa- 



1643] GOVERNMENT OF NEW HAVEN 5 1 

tive government, under which the colony continued until 1662, when New 
Haven was incorporated with Connecticut under a royal charter. 

References. — Text in New Haven Colonial Records, 1638-1649, pp. 
112-116. 

Itt was agreed and concluded as a foundamentall order nott to 
be disputed or questioned hereafter, thatt none shall be admitted 
to be free burgesses in any of the plantations within this juris- 
diction for the future, butt such planters as are members of some 
or other of the approved churches in New England, nor shall any 
butt such free burgesses have any vote in any election, (the six 
present freemen att Milforde enjoying the liberty with the cau- 
tions agreed,^) nor shall any power or trust in the ordering of any 
civill affayres, be att any time putt into the hands of any other 
then such church members, though as free planters, all have right 
to their inherritance & to comerce, according to such grants,^ 
orders and lawes as shall be made concerning the same. 

2. All such free burgesses shall have power in each towne or 
plantation within this jurisdiction to chuse fitt and able men, 
from amongst themselves, being church members as before, to be 
the ordinary judges, to heare and determine all inferior causes, 
whether civill or criminall, provided thatt no civill cause to be 
trved in any of these plantation Courts in value exceed 20 ^, and 
thatt the punishment in such criminalls, according to the minde 
of God, revealed in his word, touching such offences, doe nott 
exceed stocking and whipping, or if the fine be pecuniary, thatt 
itt exceed nott five pounds. . . . 

3. All such free burgesses through the whole jurisdiction, shall 
have vote in the election of all magistrates, whether Governor, 
Deputy Governor, or other magistrates, with a Treasurer, a Sec- 
retary and a Marshall, &c. for the jurisdiction . . . and these 
free burgesses may, att every election, chuse so many magistrates 
for each plantation, as the weight of affayres may require, and as 
they shall finde fitt men for thatt trust. . . . 

4. All the magistrates for the whole jurisdiction shall meete 
twice a yeare att Newhaven, namely, the Munday immediately 
before the sitting of the two fixed Generall Courts hereafter men- 
tioned, to keep a Court called the Court of Magistrates, for the 

* See New Haven Colonial Records, 1 638-1649, pp. no, iii. ■— ECs 



52 GOVERNMENT OF NEW HAVEN [Oct. 27/Nov. 6 

tryall of weighty and capitall cases, whether civill or criminall, 
above those lymitted to the ordinary judges in the perticular 
plantations, and to receive and try all appeales brought unto 
them from the aforesaid Plantation Courts, and to call all the 
inhabitants, whether free burgesses, free planters or others, to 
account for the breach of any lawes established, and for other 
misdemeanours, and to censure them according to the quallity of 
the offence, . . . and all sentences in this court shall pass by the 
vote of the major part of magistrates therein, butt from this 
Court of Magistrates, appeales and complaints may be made 
and brought to the Generall Court as the last and highest for this 
jurisdiction. . . . 

5. Besides the Plantation Courts and Court of Magistrates, 
their shall be a Generall Court for the Jurisdiction, which shall 
consist of the Governor, Deputy Governor and all the Magistrates 
within the Jurisdiction, and two Deputyes for every plantation 
in the Jurisdiction, which Deputyes shall from time to time be 
chosen against the approach of any such Generall Court, by the 
aforesaid free burgesses, and sent with due certificate to assist in 
the same, all which, both Governor and Deputy Governor, Magis- 
trates and Deputyes, shall have their vote in the said Court. 
This Generall Court shall alwayes sitt att Newhaven, (unless upon 
weighty occasions the Generall Court see cause for a time to sitt 
elsewhere,) and shall assemble twice every yeare, namely, the 
first Wednesday in Aprill, & the last Wednesday in October, in 
the later of which Courts, the Governor, the Deputy Governor 
and all the magistrates for the whole jurisdiction with a Treasurer, 
a Secretary and Marshall, shall yearely be chosen by all the free 
burgesses before mentioned, besides which two fixed courts, the 
Governor, or in his absence, the Deputy Governor, shall have 
power to summon a Generall Court att any other time, as the 
urgent and extraordinary occasions of the jurisdiction may re- 
quire, and att all Generall Courts, whether ordinary or extraor-. 
dinary, the Governor and Deputy Governor, and all the rest of 
the magistrates for the jurisdiction, with the Deputyes for the 
severall plantations, shall sitt together, till the affayres of the 
jurisdiction be dispatched or may safely be respited, . . . which 
Generall Court shall, with all care and dilligence provide for 
the maintenance of the purity of religion, and shall suppress the 



1643] MARYLAND TOLERATION ACT 53 

contrary, according to their best light from the worde of God, 
and all wholsome and sound advice which shall be given by the 
elders and churches in the jurisdiction, so farr as may concerne 
their civill power to deale therein. 

Seconly, they shall have power to mak and repeale lawes, and, 
while they are in force, to require execution of them in all the 
sevcrall plantations. 

Thirdly, to impose an oath upon all the magistrates, for the 
faithfull discharge of the trust comitted to them, according to 
their best abilityes, and to call them to account for the breach 
of any lawes established, or for other misdemeanors, and to cen- 
sure them, as the quallity of the offence shall require. 

Fowerthly, to impose and [an] oath of fidelity and due subjec- 
tion to the lawes upon all the free burgesses, free planters, and 
other inhabitants within the whole jurisdiction. 

5ly to settle and leivie rates and contributions upon all the 
severall plantations, for the publique service of the jurisdiction. 

6ly, to heare and determine all causes, whether civill or crimi- 
nall, which by appeale or complaint shall be orderly brought unto 
them from any of the other Courts, or from any of the other 
plantations, In all which, with whatsoever else shall fall within 
their cognisance or judicature, they shall proceed according to 
the scriptures, which is the rule of all rightous lawes and sen- 
tences, and nothing shall pass as an act of the Generall Court 
butt by the consent of the major part of magistrates, and the 
greater part of Deputyes. 



No. 14. Maryland Toleration Act 

April, 1649 

Practical religious toleration existed in Maryland from the first, although 
for some years the Jesuits were the only clergy in the colony. The Puritan 
party, however, increased; and the success of Parliament in its struggle with 
the king forced Baltimore not only to protect the Catholics, but also to guard 
against the charge that Maryland was a Catholic colony. To that end, in 
1648 he removed the governor, Thomas Greene, a Catholic, and appointed 
William Stone of Virginia, a Protestant and an adherent of the Parliamentary 



54 MARYLAND TOLERATION ACT [April 

cause. With the new commissions for the governor and council, Balti- 
more also sent drafts of sixteen proposed laws, one of which, apparently, was 
the Toleration Act. The act was passed by an assembly the majority of 
whom were probably Catholics, held at St. Mary's, April 2-21, 1649. A pro- 
viso in Stone's commission, forbidding him to assent to the repeal of any law, 
past or future, concerning religion, was designed to prevent later interference. 
In 1654, when the Puritans gained control, the protection hitherto accorded to 
Catholics was withdrawn; but the act of 1649 was revived in 1658, on the 
restoration of Baltimore's authority, and was incorporated in the revision of 
the laws made in 1676. An order of 1659, imposing penalties upon Quakers, 
seems not to have been enforced. 

References. — Text in ^vowne^s Archives of Maryland, I., 244-247. 
On the general subject of toleration in Maryland, see references in Winsor's 
Narr. and Crit. Hist., III., 560-562. 

An Act Concerning Religion 

[The first part of the act provides for the punishment of 
blasphemy and Sabbath-breaking, and of such persons as shall 
call any one within the Province ''an heretick, Scismatick, 
Idolator, puritan, Independant, Prespiterian popish prest, Jesuite, 
Jesuited papist, Lutheran, Calvenist, Anabaptist, Brownist, Anti- 
nomian, Barrowist, Roundhead, Separatist, or any other name or 
terme in a reproachfull manner relating to matter of Religion."] 

And whereas the inforceing of the conscience in matters of 
Religion hath frequently fallen out to be of dangerous Conse- 
quence in those commonwealthes where it hath been practised, 
And for the more quiett and peaceable governement of this 
Province, and the better to preserve mutuall Love and amity 
amongst the Inhabitants thereof. Be it Therefore . . . enacted 
(e.xcept as in this present Act is before Declared and sett forth) 
that noe person or persons whatsoever within this Province, or 
the Islands, Ports, Harbors, Creekes, or havens thereunto be- 
longing professing to believe in Jesus Christ, shall from hence- 
forth bee any waies troubled. Molested or discountenanced for 
or in respect of his or her religion nor in the free exercise thereof 
within this Province or the Islands thereunto belonging nor any 
way compelled to the beleife or exercise of any other Religion 
against his or her consent, soe as they be not unfaithfuU to the 
Lord Proprietary, or molest or conspire against the civill Govern- 
ment established or to bee established in this Province under him 
or his heires. And that all & every person and persons that shall 



1649] FIRST NAVIGATION ACT 55 

presume Contrary to this Act and the true intent and meaning 
thereof directly or indirectly either in person or estate willfully 
to wrong disturbe trouble or molest any person whatsoever within 
this Province professing to beleive in Jesus Christ for or in re- 
spect of his or her religion or the free exercise thereof within 
this Province other than is provided for in this Act that such 
person or persons soe offending, shalbe compelled to pay trebble 
damages to the party soe wronged or molested, and for every such 
offence shall also forfeit 20^ sterling in money or the value thereof 
. . . , Or if the partie soe offending as aforesaid shall refuse or 
bee unable to recompense the party soe wronged, or to satisfy 
such ffyne or forfeiture, then such Offender shalbe severely 
punished by publick whipping & imprisonment during the pleasure 
of the Lord proprietary, or his Leiuetenant or cheife Governor of 
this Province for the tyme being without baile or maineprise. . . . 



No. 15. First Navigation Act 
1660 

Under the early colonial charters, the American colonies were generally 
exempted, either wholly or for a term of years, from the operation of the 
various acts for the regulation of trade then in force. The activity of the 
Dutch, however, gradually secured to that nation the virtual control of 
the colonial carrying trade. To regain this trade for the English, Parlia- 
ment, in 1645, passed the first of a long series of acts and ordinances com- 
monly spoken of collectively as the Navigation Acts. The ordinance of 1645 
prohibited the importation into England, in other than English vessels 
manned by English seamen, of whale oil and other products of the whale 
fisheries. An ordinance of the following year restricted the foreign trade of 
the colonies to English bottoms. In 1649 the importation into England, 
Ireland, "or any of the dominions thereof," of French wines, wool, and 
silk was prohibited. In 1650, Virginia and certain of the West India col- 
onies, where opposition to Puritanism had broken out, were declared to be 
in rebellion; and in order "to hinder the carrying over of any such persons 
as are enemies to this Commonwealth, or that may prove dangerous to any 
of the English plantations in America," foreign vessels were forbidden to 
trade with the colonies, save under license from Parliament or the Council 
of State. An act of 1651 embodied "a policy of coercion pure and simple," 
• forbidding the importation of products of Asia, Africa, or America into 
Great Britain or the British colonies except in British or colonial vessels; 



56 FIRST NAVIGATION ACT [1660 

restricting the importation of European products to British vessels, or 
vessels of the country where the goods were produced or of the port from 
which they were usually shipped; limiting the trade in fish to British or 
colonial vessels; and excluding foreign vessels from the English coasting 
trade. The act of 1660, usually known as the First Navigation Act, 
embodied, in more systematic form, the important provisions of earlier 
acts, with the object of protecting both English and colonial shipping, and 
exploiting the colonial trade for the benefit of the mother country. As 
the act was passed by the Convention Parliament, it was confirmed in 1661 
by the first Parliament, known technically as the thirteenth, regularly 
assembled after the restoration of Charles II. 

References. — Text in Statutes of the Realm, V., 246-250. The act is 
cited as 12 Car. II., c. 18. On the history and effects of the Navigation 
Acts, as touching America, see Beer's Commercial Policy of England towards 
the American Colonies, in Columbia Coll. Studies, III., No. 2. 

An Act for the Encourageing and increasing of Shipping and 

Navigation. 

[I.] For the increase of Shiping and incouragement of the 
Navigation of this Nation, wherin under the good providence 
and protection of God the Wealth Safety and Strength of this 
Kingdome is soe much concerned Bee it Enacted . . . That 
from and after . . . [December i, 1660] . . . , and from thence 
forward noe Goods or Commodities whatsoever shall be Im- 
ported into or Exported out of any Lands Islelands Plantations 
or Territories to his Majesty belonging or in his possession or 
which may hereafter belong unto or be in the possession of His 
Majesty His Heires and Successors in Asia Africa or America 
in any other Ship or Ships Vessell or Vessells whatsoever but in 
such Ships or Vessells as doe truely and without fraude belong 
onely to the people of England or Ireland Dominion of Wales or 
Towne of Berwicke upon Tweede, or are of the built of, and be- 
longing to any of the said Lands Islands Plantations or Terri- 
tories as the Proprietors and right Owners therof and wherof 
the Master and three fourthes of the Marriners at least are Eng- 
lish * under the penalty of the Forfeiture and Losse of all the 

' Question having arisen in rcijard to the definition of English built ships 
and English mariners in this act, these terms were further defined by an act of 
1662, 14 Car. II., c. II, sect. 5: "And that no Forreign built Ship (that is to say) 
not built in any of His Majesties Dominions of Asia Africa or America or other 
then such as shall (bona fide) be bought before . . . [October i, 1662,] . . . 



i66o] FIRST NAVIGATION ACT 57 

Goods and Commodityes which shall be Imported into, or Ex- 
ported out of, any the aforesaid places in any other Ship or Ves- 
sell, as alsoe of the Ship or Vessell with all its Guns Furniture 
Tackle Ammunition and Apparell. . . . 

[III.] And it is further Enacted . . . that noe Goods or Com- 
modityes whatsoever of the growth production or manufacture of 
Africa Asia or America or of any part thereof ... be Imported 
into England Ireland or Wales Islands of Guernsey or Jersey 
or Towne of Berwicke upon Tweede in any other Ship or Ships 
Vessell or Vessels whatsoever, but in such as doe truely and 
without fraude belong onely to the people of England or Ireland, 
Dominion of Wales or Towne of Berwicke upon Tweede or 
of the Lands Islands Plantations or Territories in Asia Africa 
or America to his Majesty belonging as the proprietors and right 
owners therof, and wherof the Master and three fourthes at least 
of the Mariners are English under the penalty of the forfeiture 
of all such Goods and Commodityes, and of the Ship or Vessell 
in which they were Imported with all her Guns Tackle Furni- 
ture Ammunition and Apparell. . . . 

[IV.] And it is further Enacted . . . that noe Goods or Com- 
modityes that are of forraigne growth production or manufacture 
and which are to be brought into England Ireland Wales, the 
Islands of Guernsey & Jersey or Towne of Berwicke upon Tweede 
in English built shiping, or other shiping belonging to some of 
the aforesaid places, and navigated by English Mariners as 
abovesaid shall be shiped or brought from any other place or 
Places, Country or Countries but onely from those of their said 
Growth Production or Manufacture, or from those Ports where 
the said Goods and Commodityes can onely or are or usually 
have beene first shiped for transportation and from none other 
Places or Countryes under the penalty of the forfeiture of all such 
of the aforesaid Goods as shall be Imported from any other place 

next ensuing and expresly named in the said List shall enjoye the priviledge of 
a Ship belonging to England or Ireland although owned or manned by English 
(except such Ships only as shall be taken at Sea by Letters of Mart or Reprizal 
and Condemnation made in the Court of Admiralty as lawfuU Prize) but all such 
Ships shall be deemed as Aliens Ships ... it is to be understood that any of 
His Majesties Subjects of England Ireland and His Plantations are to bee 
accounted English and no others. . . ." — Ed. 



58 FIRST NAVIGATION ACT [166& 

or Country contrary to the true intent and meaning hereof, as 
alsoe of the ship in which they were imported with all her Guns 
Furniture Ammunition Tackle and Apparel. . . . 

[VI.] [Foreign vessels excluded from the English coasting 
trade.] 

******** 

[VIII.] And it is further Enacted . . . That noe Goods or 
Commodityes of the Growth Production or Manufacture of Mus- 
covy or of any the Countryes ... to the Great Duke or Em- 
porer of Muscovia or Russia belonging, As alsoe that noe sorts 
of Masts Timber or boards noe forraigne Salt Pitch Tar Rozin 
Hempe or Flax Raizins Figs Prunes Olive Oyles noe [sort '] of 
Corne or Graine Sugar Pot-ashes Wines Vinegar or Spirits called 
Aqua-vite or Brandy Wine shall from and after . . . [April i, 
1661] ... be imported into England Ireland Wales or Towne 
of Berwicke upon Tweede in any Ship or Ships Vessel or Vessels 
whatsoever but in such as doe truely and without fraude belong 
to the people therof or of some of them as the true Owners and 
proprietors therof, and wherof the Master and Three Fourths 
of the Mariners at least are English, and that noe Currants, nor 
Commodityes of the growth production or Manufacture of any 
the Countryes ... to the Othoman or Turkish Empire belong- 
ing shall from and after . . . [September i, 1661] ... be im- 
ported into any the forementioned places in any Ship or Vessel, 
but which is of English built and navigated as aforesaid and in 
noe other, except onely such forraigne ships and vessels as are of 
the built of that Country or place of which the said Goods are 
the growth production or Manufacture respectively, or of such 
Port where the said Goods can onely be or most usually are first 
shiped for transportation, and wherof the Master and three 
Fourths of the Mariners at least are of the said Country [and ^] 
place under the penalty and forfeiture of Ship and Goods. . . . 

[XVIII.] And it is further Enacted . . . That from and after 
. . . [April I, 1 661] . . . noe Sugars Tobaccho Cotton Wool In- 
dicoes Ginger Fustick or other dyeing wood of the Growth Pro- 

' sorts in the original Ms. 
^ or in the original Ms. 



i66o] FIRST NAVIGATION ACT 59 

duction or Manufacture of any English Plantations in America 
Asia or Africa shall be shiped carryed conveyed or transported 
from any of the said English Plantations to any Land Island 
Territory Dominion Port or place whatsoever other then to such 
[ ^] English Plantations as doe belong to His Majesty ... or 
to the Kingdome of England or Ireland or Principallity of Wales 
or Towne of Berwicke upon Tweede there to be laid on shore 
under the penalty of the Forfeiture of the said Goods or the full 
value thereof, as alsoe of the Ship with all her Guns Tackle 
Apparel Ammunition and Furniture. . . . 

[XIX.] And be it further Enacted . . . That for every Ship or 
Vessel which from and after . . . [December 25, 1660] . . . shall 
set saile out of, or from England Ireland Wales or Towne of Ber- 
wicke upon Tweede for any English Plantation in America Asia 
[or] Africa sufficient bond shall be given with one surety to the 
cheife Officers of the Custome house, of such Port or place from 
whence the said Ship shall set saile . . . That in case the .said 
Ship or Vessel shall loade any of the said Commodityes at any 
of the said Enghsh Plantations, that the same Commodityes shall 
be by the said ship brought to some Port of England Ireland 
Wales, or to the Port or Towne of Berwicke upon Tweede and 
shall there unload and put on shore the same, the danger of the 
Seas onely excepted. And for all ships coming from any other 
Port or Place to any of the aforesaid plantations who by this 
Act are permited to trade there, that the Governour of such 
English plantation shall before the said Ship or Vessel be per- 
mited to loade on board any of the said Commodityes take Bond 
in manner and to the value aforesaid for each respective Ship 
or Vessel, That such Ship or Vessell shall carry all the aforesaid 
Goods that shall be laden on board in the said ship to some 
other of His Majestyes English Plantations, or to England Ire- 
land Wales or Towne of Berwicke upon Tweede . . . [under 
penalty of forfeiture of the vessel, &c.]. . . . 

1 The Ms. inserts other. 



6o CHARTER OF CONNECTICUT [April 23/May 3 

No. 16. Charter of Connecticut 

April 23/May 3, 1662 

In May, 1661, the General Court of Connecticut appointed a committee to 
prepare a petition for a royal charter. Governor Winthrop, to whom the nego- 
tiations were intrusted, had the influential support of Lord Say and Sele and 
the Earl of Manchester; and in April, 1662, the charter was granted. The 
boundaries, as defined by the charter, included New Haven. The delay of 
the latter colony in proclaiming Charles II., and its tender treatment of the 
regicides, had brought it into disfavor with the king; and it now, under the 
lead of Davenport, resisted annexation and appealed to the Commissioners 
of the United Colonies. But the conquest of New Netherland by the English, 
in 1664, and the grant to the Duke of York of territory as far east as the 
Connecticut River, hastened submission; and in December of the latter year 
a committee was appointed to arrange for the union. A quo warranto was 
issued against the Connecticut charter in 1684, but judgment was not en- 
tered. When Andros demanded the charter, in 1687, it was secreted, and 
remained hidden until 1689, when, upon the deposition of Andros, govern- 
ment under the charter was resumed. The State constitution of 1776 con- 
tinued the charter in force, with a few changes, and it remained the funda- 
mental law of Connecticut until the adoption of a new constitution in 1818. 

References. — Text in Connecticut Colonial Records, II., 3-1 1. Win- 
throp's instructions, the address to the King, and the letter to the Earl of 
Manchester, are in ib., I., 579-585. For the proceedings in New Haven, 
see the New Haven Colonial Records, 1653-1665, passim. 

C{)ark3 tf}e Scconti, [ &c.] Whereas . . . We have byn in- 
formed by the humble Petition of our Trusty and welbelovefl 
John Winthrop, John Mason, Samuell Wilhs, Henry Gierke, 
Mathew Allen, John Tappen, Nathan Gold, Richard Treate, 
Richard Lord, Henry Woolicot, John Talcott, Daniel! Gierke, 
John Ogden, Thomas Wells, Obedias Brewen, John Gierke, 
Anthony Haukins, John Deming, and Mathew Gamfeild, being 
Persons Principally interested in our Golony or Plantation of 
Gonecticutt in New England, that the same Golony or the greatest 
parte thereof was purchased and obteyned for greate and valu- 
able considerations. And some other parte thereof gained by Gon- 
quest and with much difficulty, and att the onely endeavours, 
expence and Gharge of them and their Associates, and those 
under whome they Glayme, Subdued and improved, and thereby 
become a considerable enlargement and addition of our Do- 



i662] CHARTER OF CONNECTICUT 6l 

minions and interest there, — Now Know yea, that . . . wee 
... by theis presents . . . Doe Ordeine, Constitute and De- 
clare That they, the said John Winthrop . . . [and others] . . . , 
and all such others as now are or hereafter shall bee Admitted 
and made free of the Company and Society of our Collony of 
Conecticut in America, shall . . . bee one Body Corporate and 
Pollitique in fact and name, by the Name of Governour and 
Company of the English Collony of Conecticut in New England 
in America; . . . And further, wee . . . Doe Declare . . . that 
for the better ordering and manageing of the affaires and busi- 
nesse of the said Company and their Successors, there shall be 
one Governour, one Deputy Governour and Twelve Assistants, 
to bee from tyme to tyme Constituted, Elected and Chosen out 
of the Freemen of the said Company for the tyme being, in such 
manner and forme as hereafter in these presents is expressed; 
which said Officers shall apply themselves to take care for the 
best disposeing and Ordering of the Generall busines and affaires 
of and concerning the lands and hereditaments herein after 
mentioned to bee graunted, and the Plantation thereof and the 
Government of the People thereof. And . . . Wee doe . . . ap- 
point the aforesaid John Winthrop to bee the first and present 
Governour of the said Company; And the said John Mason to 
bee the Deputy Governour; And the said Samuell Willis, Mathew 
Allen, Nathan Gold, Henry Gierke, Richard Treat, John Ogden, 
Thomas Tappen, John Talcott, Thomas Wells, Henry Woolcot, 
Richard Lord and Daniell Gierke to bee the Twelve present 
Assistants of the said Company ; . . . And further, wee . . . Doe 
Ordaine . . . that the Governour of the said Company for the 
tyme being, or, in his absence by occasion of sicknes, or other- 
wise by his leave or permission, the Deputy Governour . . . , 
shall and may . . . give Order for the assembling of the said 
Company and calling them together to Consult and advise of 
the businesse and Affaires of the said Company, And that for 
ever hereafter, Twice in every yeare, (That is to say,) on every 
second Thursday in October and on every second Thursday in 
May, or oftener, in Case it shall be requisite. The Assistants and 
freemen of the said Company, or such of them (not exceeding 
twoe Persons from each place, Towne or Citty) whoe shall bee 
from tyme to tyme thereunto Elected or Deputed by the major 



62 CHARTER OF CONNECTICUT [April 23/May i 

parte of the freemen of the respective Townes, Cittyes and Places 
for which they shall bee soe elected or Deputed, shall have a 
generall meeting or x^ssembly, then and their to Consult and 
advise in and about the Affaires and businesse of the said Com- 
pany; And that the Governour, or . . . Deputy Governour . . ., 
and such of the Assistants and freemen of the said Company as 
shall be soe Elected or Deputed and bee present att such meeting 
or Assembly, or the greatest number of them, whereof the Gov- 
ernour or Deputy Governour and Six of the Assistants, at least, 
to bee Seaven, shall be called the Generall Assembly, and shall 
have full power and authority to alter and change their dayes and 
tymes of meeting or Generall Assemblies for Electing the Gov- 
ernour, Deputy Governour and Assistants or other Officers, or 
any other Courts, Assemblies or meetings, and to Choose, Nomi- 
nate and appoint such and soe many other Persons as they shall 
thinke fitt and shall bee willing to accept the same, to bee free 
of the said Company and Body Politique, and them into the same 
to Admitt and to Elect, and Constitute such Officers as they shall 
thinke fitt and requisite for the Ordering, mannageing and dis- 
poseing of the Affaires of the said Governour and Company and 
their Successors. And wee doe hereby . . . Ordeine, that once 
in the yeare . . . , namely, the said Second Thursday in May, 
the Governour, Deputy Governour and Assistants of the said 
Company and other Officers of the said Company, or such of 
them as the said Generall Assembly shall thinke fitt, shall bee, 
in the said Generall Court and Assembly to bee held from that 
day or tyme, newly Chosen for the yeare ensuing, by such greater 
part of the said Company for the tyme being then and there 
present. . . . And Knowe yee further. That Wee . . . Doe 
. . . Graunt . . . unto the said Governor and Company and 
their Successors, All that parte of our Dominions in Newe Eng- 
land in America bounded on the East by Norrogancett River, 
comonly called Norrogancett Bay, where the said River falleth 
into the Sea, and on the North by the lyne of the Massachusetts 
Plantation, and on the South by the Sea, and in longitude as the 
lyne of the Massachusetts Colony, runinge from East to West, 
(that is to say,) from the said Narrogancett Bay on the East to 
the South Sea on the West parte, with the Islands thereunto 
adjoyneinge. . . . 



1662/3] FIRST CHARTER OF CAROLINA 63 

No. 17. First Charter of Carolina 

March 24/April 3, 1662/3 

The region later known as Carolina had been included in the original 
Virginia grant of 1606; but no permanent settlements had been made, and 
on the revocation of the third Virginia charter, in 1624, the territory became 
subject to the disposal of the Crown. In 1629, Sir Robert Heath, then attor- 
ney-general, received from Charles I. a grant of the region south of Vir- 
ginia, between 31° and 36° north latitude, under the name of Carolana; 
but no use was made of the grant, and no further attempt was made to de- 
velop the country until the grant of a charter to Clarendon and his associates, 
in March, 1662/3. An order in council of Aug. 12/22, 1663, declared the 
Heath patent void for non-user; but claims under it continued to be urged 
until 1768, when the descendants of Daniel Coxe, of New Jersey, to whom 
the patent had been transferred in 1696, received from the Crown a grant of 
100,000 acres of land in New York in satisfaction of their claim. 

References. — Text in Statutes at Large of South Carolina (Cooper's ed., 
1836), I., 22-31. The Heath grant is in Colonial Records of North Carolina, 
I., 1-13. For the documentary sources see, beside the Records, Carroll's 
Historical Collections of South Carolina; Sainsbury's Calendar of State 
Papers, Colonial, V., VI. On the early history of South Carolina, Mc- 
Crady's History of South Carolina under the Proprietary Government is of 
prime importance. 

CHARLES THE SECOND, [&c.]. . . . 

I St. Whereas our right trusty, and right well beloved Cousins 
and Counsellors, Edward, Earl of Clarendon, our high Chan- 
cellor of England, and George, Duke of Albemarle, Master of 
our horse and Captain General of all our Forces, our right trusty 
and well beloved William Lord Craven, John Lord Berkley, our 
right trusty and well beloved Counsellor, Anthony Lord Ashley, 
Chancellor of our Exchequer, Sir George Carteret, Knt. and 
Baronet, Vice Chamberlain of our household, and our trusty and 
well beloved Sir William Berkley, Knt. and Sir John Colleton, 
Knight and Baronet, . . . have humbly besought leave of us by 
their industry and charge, to transport and make an ample Colony 
of our subjects, natives of our Kingdom of England, and else- 
where within our Dominions, unto a certain country hereafter 
described, in the parts of America not yet cultivated or planted, 
and only inhabited by some barbarous people, who have no 
knowledge of Almighty God. 



64 FIRST CHARTER OF CAROLINA [March 24/April 3 

2d. And whereas the said Edward, Earl of Clarendon . . . 
[and others] . . . have humbly besought us to . . . grant . . . 
unto them and their heirs, the said country, with Priviledges and 
Jurisdictions requisite for the good government and safety thereof: 
Know ye, therefore, that we, favouring the pious and noble pur- 
pose of the said Edward Earl of Clarendon . . . [and others] 
... by this our present Charter ... do Give, Grant and Con- 
firm unto the said Edward Earl of Clarendon . . . [and others] 
... all that territory or tract of ground, scituate, lying and 
being within our dominions of America, extending from the 
North end of the Island called Lucke-Island, which lieth in the 
Southern Virginia Seas, and within six and thirty degres of 
the Northern Latitude, and to the West as far as the South Seas, 
and so Southerly as far as the river St. Matthias, which bordereth 
upon the coast of Florida, and within one and thirty degrees of 
Northern Latitude, and so west in a direct line as far as the South 
seas aforesaid. . . . 

3d. And furthermore, the I'atronage and Advowsons of all the 
Churches and Chapels, which as Christian Religion shall increase 
within the Country . . . shall happen hereafter to be erected, 
together with license and power to build and found Churches, 
Chappels and Oratories, in convenient and fit places, within the 
said bounds and limits, and to cause them to be dedicated and 
consecrated according to the Ecclesiastical laws of our Kingdom 
of England, together with all and singular the like, and as ample 
Rights, Jurisdictions, Priviledges, Prerogatives, Royalties, Liber- 
ties, Immunities and Franchises of what kind soever, within the 
Countries, Isles, Islets, and Limits aforesaid. 

4th. To have, use, exercise and enjoy, and in as ample manner 
as any Bishop of Durham in our Kingdom of England, ever here- 
tofore have held, used or enjoyed, or of right ought or could 
have, use, or enjoy. And them, the said Edward Earl of Claren- 
don . . . [and others] . . . their heirs and assigns, We do by these 
Presents . . . constitute, the true and Absolute Lords Proprie- 
tors of the Country aforesaid, and of all other the premises; 
saving always the faith, allegiance and sovereign dominion due 
to us . . . for the same, and saving also the right, title, and 
interest of all and every our subjects of the English nation, which 
are now planted within the limits and bounds aforesaid, (if any 



1662/3] FIRST CHARTER OF CAROLINA 65 

be), . . . yielding and paying yearly to us . . . for the same, 
the yearly rent of twenty marks of lawful money of England . . . 
and also the fourth part of all gold or silver ore, which, within 
the limits aforesaid, shall from time to time happen to be found. 

5th. And that the country, thus by us granted and described, 
may be dignified by us with as large Titles and Priviledges as any 
other part of our Dominions and territories in that region. Know 
ye, that we . . . do . . . erect, incorporate and ordain the same 
into a Province, and call it the Province of Carolina. [The pro- 
prietors may make laws with the assent of the freemen.] 

6th. [The proprietors may make ordinances;] so as such Ordi- 
nances be reasonable, and not repugnant or contrary, but as near 
as may be, agreeable to the laws and statutes of this our Kingdom 
of England, and so as the same ordinances do not extend to the 
binding, charging, or taking away of the right or interest of any 
person or persons, in their freehold, goods or chattels whatsoever. 
******** 

9th. Provided nevertheless, . . . and we ... by these pres- 
ents ... do give and grant unto the said Edward Earl of Claren- 
don ... [and others] .... full and free license, liberty, and 
authority, ■ at any time or times, from and after the feast of St. 
Michael the Arch-Angel . . . [1667] ... as well to import, 
and bring into any of our Dominions from the said Province of 
Carolina, or any part thereof, the several goods and commodities,, 
hereinafter mentioned, that is to say, silks, wines, currants, 
raisins, capers,. wax, almonds, oyl, and olives, without paying or 
answering to us . , . any custom, import, or other duty, for and 
in respect thereof for and during the term and space of seven 
years, to commence and be accompted, from and after the first 
importation of four tons of any the said goods, in any one bot- 
tom, ship or vessel from the said Province, into any of our 
Dominions; as also to export and carry out of any of our Do- 
minions, into the said Province of Carolina, custom free, all 
sorts of tools which shall be usefull or necessary for the planters 
there, in the accommodation and improvement of the premises, 
any thing before, in these presents contained, or any law, act, 
statute, prohibition, or other matter ... to the contrary, in any 
wise notwithstanding. 



t)6 CHARTER OF RHODE ISLAND [July 8/18 

i8th. And because it may happen that some of the people and 
inhabitants of the said Province, cannot in their private opinions, 
conform to the pubhck exercise of rehgion, according to the 
liturgy form and ceremonies of the Church of England, or take 
and subscribe the oath and articles, made and established in that 
behalf, and for that the same, by reason of the remote distances 
of these places, will, we hope, be no breach of the unity and uni- 
formity established in this nation ; . . . we do . . . grant unto the 
said Edward, Earl of Clarendon . . . [and others] . . . full and 
free license, liberty and authority, by such legal ways and means 
as they shall think fit, to give and grant unto such person or per- 
sons, inhabiting and being within the said Province, or any part 
thereof, who really in their judgments, and for conscience sake, 
cannot or shall not conform to the said liturgy and ceremonies, 
and take and subscribe the oaths and articles aforesaid, or any of 
them, such indulgencies and dispensations in that behalf, for and 
during such time and times, and with such limitations and re- 
strictions as they .... shall in their discretion think fit and 
reasonable; and with this express proviso, and limitation also, 
that such person and persons, to whom such indulgencies and 
dispensations shall be granted as aforesaid, do and shall, from 
time to time declare and continue, all fidelity, loyalty and obedi- 
ence to us, our heirs and successors, and be subject and obedient 
to all other the laws, ordinances, and constitutions of the said 
Province, in all matters whatsoever, as well ecclesiastical as civil, 
and do not in any wise disturb the peace and safety thereof, or 
scandalize or reproach the said liturgy, forms, and ceremonies, 
or any thing relating thereunto, or any person or persons whatso- 
ever, for or in respect of his or their use or exercise thereof, or 
his or their obedience and conformity, thereunto. 

******** 



No. 18. Charter of Rhode Island and 
Providence Plantations 

July 8/18, 1663 

In January, 1661, John Clarke, sometime agent for Rhode Island in Eng- 
land, presented a petition for a royal charter for that colony. The prompt- 



1663] CHARTER OF RHODE ISLAND 67 

ness of Rhode Island in proclaiming Charles II., and the willingness of 
the king to restrain the ambitions of Massachusetts, caused the petition to 
be favorably regarded. The charter of Connecticut, however, in 1662, in- 
cluded within the limits of that colony certain territory on Narragansett Bay 
long in dispute between Massachusetts and Rhode Island, and now held by 
the Atherton Company, a land-speculating organization of which Winthrop 
was a member. An effort on the part of Rhode Island, in 1660, to come to 
terms with this company had been unsuccessful. Clarke entered a protest 
against the Connecticut grant; but, by agreement with Winthrop, the con- 
troversy was presently referred to arbitrators. The decision, in April, 1663, 
was favorable to Rhode Island, and in July the charter was issued. With 
the exception of the brief period of Andros's administration, 1686-1689, 
during which the government was carried on by the towns, the charter con- 
tinued to be the fundamental law of Rhode Island until the adoption of a 
State constitution in 1842. 

References. — Text in Rhode Island Colonial Records, II., 3-21. 

C|)arl£0 tf)E S£C0nti, [ &c.] . . . : 512E|)crcaa toce have been in- 
formed, by the humble petition of our trustie and well beloved 
subject, John Clarke, on the behalfe of Benjamine Arnold, Wil- 
liam Brenton, William Codington, Nicholas Easton, William 
Boulston, John Porter, John Smith, Samuell Groton, John Weeks, 
Roger Williams, Thomas Olnie, Gregorie Dexter, John Cogeshall, 
Joseph Clarke, Randall Holden, John Greene, John Roome, 
Samuell Wildbore, William Ffield, James Barker, Richard Tew, 
Thomas Harris, and William Dyre, and the rest of the purchasers 
and ffree inhabitants of our island, called lEHjotic-IsIantJ, and the 
rest of the colonie of Providence Plantations, in the Narragansett 
Bay, in New-England, in America, that they, pursueing, with 
peaceable and loyall mindes, their sober, serious and religious 
intentions, of godhe edifieing themselves, and one another, in 
the holie Christian ffaith and worshipp as they were perswaded: 
together with the gaineing over and conversione of the poore 
ignorant Indian natives, in those partes of America, to the sincere 
professione and obedienc of the same ffaith and worship, did, 
not onlie by the consent and good encouragement of our royall 
progenitors, transport themselves out of this kingdome of Eng- 
land into America, but alsoe, since their arrivall there, after their 
first settlement amongst other our subjects in those parts, flfor 
the avoideing of discorde, and those manie evills which were 
likely to ensue upon some of those oure subjects not beinge able 
to beare, in these remote partes, theire different apprehensiones 



68 CHARTER OF RHODE ISLAND [July 8/18 

in religious concernments, and in pursueance of the afforerayd 
ends, did once againe leave theire desireable stationes and habi- 
tationes, and with excessive labor and travell, hazard and charge, 
did transplant themselves into the middest of the Indian natives, 
who, as wee are infformed, are the most potent princes and people 
of all that country; where, by the good Providence of God, from 
whome the Plantationes have taken their name, upon theire 
labour and Industrie, they have not onlie byn preserved to ad- 
miration, but have increased and prospered, and are seized and 
possessed, by purchase and consent of the said natives, to their 
fifull content, of such lands, islands, rivers, harbours and,roades, 
as are verie convenient, both for plantationes and alsoe for build- 
inge of shipps, suplye of pype-staves, and other merchandize; 
and which lyes verie commodious, in manie respects, for com- 
merce, and to accommodate oure southern plantationes, and may 
much advance the trade of this oure realme, and greatlie enlarge 
the territories thereof; they haveinge, by neare neighbourhoode 
to and friendlie societie with the greate bodie of the Narragansett 
Indians, given them encouragement, of theire owne accorde, to 
subject themselves, theire people and landes, unto us; whereby, 
as is hoped, there may, in due tyme, by the blessing of God upon 
theire endeavours, bee layd a sure ffoundation of happinesse to 
all America : '^nti iiiljereas, in theire humble addresse, they have 
fifreely declared, that it is much on their hearts (if they may be 
permitted), to hold forth a livelie experiment, that a most flour- 
ishing civill state may stand and best bee maintained, and that 
among our English subjects, with a full libertie in religious con- 
cernements; and that true pietye rightly grounded upon gospell 
principles, will give the best and greatest security to sover- 
eignetye, and will lay in the hearts of men the strongest obliga- 
tions to true loyaltye : Noto kn0tD me, that wee beinge willinge to 
encourage the hopefuU undertakeinge of oure sayd loyall and 
loveinge subjects, and to secure them in the free exercise and 
enjoyment of all theire civill and religious rights, appertaining 
to them, as our loveing subjects; and to preserve unto them that 
libertye, in the true Christian ffaith and worshipp of God, which 
they have sought with soe much travaill, and with peaceable 
myndes, and loyall subjectione to our royall progenitors and our- 
selves, to enjoye; and because some of the people and inhab- 



1663] CHARTER OF RHODE ISLAND 6g 

itants of the same colonie cannot, in theire private opinions, 
conforme to tlie publique exercise of religion, according to the 
litturgy, formes and ceremonyes of the Church of England, or 
take or subscribe the oaths and articles made and established in 
that behalfe; and for that the same, by reason of the remote dis- 
tances of those places, will (as wee hope) bee noe breach of 
the unitie and unifformitie established in this nation : . . . doe 
hereby . . . declare, That our royall will and pleasure is, that 
noe person within the sayd colonye, at any tyme hereafter, shall 
bee any wise molested, punished, disquieted, or called in question, 
for any differences in opinione in matters of religion, and doe not 
actually disturb the civill peace of our sayd colony; but that all 
and everye person and persons may, from tyme to tyme, and at 
all tymes hereafter, freelye and fullye have and enjoye his and 
theire owne judgments and consciences, in matters of religious 
concernments, throughout the tract of lande hereafter mentioned ; 
they behaving themselves peaceablie and quietlie, and not useing 
this libertie to lycentiousnesse and profanenesse, nor to the civill 
injurye or outward disturbeance of others; any lawe, statute, or 
clause, therein contayned, or to bee contayned, usage or custome 
of this realme, to the contrary hereof, in any wise, notwithstanding. 
And that they may bee in the better capacity to defend them- 
selves, in theire just rights and libertyes against all the enemies 
of the Christian ffaith, and others, in all respects, wee . . . further 
. . . declare. That they shall have and enjoye the benefitt of our 
late act of indempnity and ffree pardon, as the rest of our sub- 
jects in other our dominions and territoryes have; and to create 
and make them a bodye politique or corporate, with the powers 
and priviledges hereinafter mentioned. And accordingely . . . 
iUEE . . . doe ordeyne, constitute and declare. That they, the sayd 
William Brenton . . . [and others] . . . and all such others 
as now are, or hereafter shall bee admitted and made ffree of the 
company and societie of our collonie of Providence Plantations, 
in the Narragansett Bay, in New-England, shall bee, from tyme 
to tyme, and forever hereafter, a bodie corporate and politique, 
... by the name of CfjE (^obcrnor anti Compang of i\)e lEnglis!) 
€a\\onk at irttatie-JIsIantJ anti ^rotitticncE plantations, in "Ntia- 
lEnglanti, in America. . . . ^nti furtljEr, wee . . . doe declare 
, . . that . . . there shall bee one Governour, one Deputie- 



yo CHARTER OF RHODE ISLAND [July 8/18 

Governour and ten Assistants, to bee from tyme to tyme . . . 
chosen, out of the freemen of the sayd Company, for the tyme 
beinge, in such manner and fforme as is hereafter in these presents 
expressed; . . . ^nli . . . wee doe . . . apoynt the aforesayd 
Benedict Arnold to bee the first and present Governor of the 
sayd Company, and the sayd WilUam Brenton to bee the Deputy- 
Governor, and the sayd WiUiam Boulston, John Porter, Roger 
WilHams, Thomas Olnie, John Smith, John Greene, John Coge- 
shall, James Barker, Wilham Ffeild, and Joseph Clarke, to bee 
the tenn present Assistants of the sayd Companye. . . . ^nt) 
fiirtljcr, wee . . . doe ordeyne . . . that the Governor of the 
sayd Company, for the tyme being, or, in his absence, ... the 
Deputy-Governor, . . . shall and may, ffrom tyme to tyme, upon 
all occasions, give order fifor the assemblinge of the sayd Company, 
and callinge them together, to consult and advise of the businesse 
and affaires of the sayd Company, ^uti tfjat forever hereafter, 
twice in every year, that is to say, on every first Wednesday in 
the moneth of May, and on every last Wednesday in October, or 
oftener, in case it shall bee requisite, the Assistants, and such of 
the ffreemen of the Company, not exceedinge six persons ffor 
Newport, ffoure persons ffor each of the respective townes of 
Providence, Portsmouth and Warwicke, and two persons for each 
other place, towne or city, whoe shall bee, from tyme to tyme, 
thereunto elected or deputed by the majour parte of the ffreemen 
of the respective townes or places ffor which they shall bee so 
elected or deputed, shall have a generall meetinge, or Assembly 
then and there to consult, advise and determine, in and about 
the affaires and businesse of the said Company and Plantations, 
^nti fiirtl^cr, wee doe . . . graunt unto the sayd Governour and 
Company . . . that the Governour ... [or Deputy-Governor] 
. . . , the Assistants, and such of the ffreemen of the sayd Company 
as shall bee soe as aforesayd elected or deputed, or soe many of 
them as shall bee present att such meetinge or assemblye, as 
afforesayde, shall bee called the Generall Assemblye; and that 
they, or the greatest parte of them present, whereof the Governour 
or Deputy-Governour, and sixe of the Assistants, at least to bee 
seven, shall have . . . ffull power [and] authority ... to apoynt, 
alter and change, such dayes, tymes and places of meetinge and 
Generall Assemblye, as theye shall thinke ffitt; ^nt) furtfjcr • . . 



1663] CHARTER OF RHODE ISLAND 71 

wee doe , . . ordeyne, that yearelie, . . . the aforesayd Wednes- 
day in May, and at the towne of Newport, or elsewhere, if urgent 
occasion doe require, the Governour, Deputy-Governour and 
Assistants of the sayd Company, and other officers of the sayd 
Company, or such of them as the Generall Assemblye shall thinke 
filtt, shall bee, in the sayd Generall Court or Assembly to bee 
held from that daye or tyme, newly chosen for the year ensueing, 
by such greater part of the sayd Company, for the tyme beinge, 
as shall bee then and there present; . . . Neverthelesse, our 
will and pleasure is, and wee doe hereby declare to the rest of oure 
CoUonies in New-England, that itt shall not bee lawefull ffor 
this our sayd Collony ... to invade the natives inhabiting within 
the boundes and limitts of theire sayd Collonies without the 
knowledge and consent of the sayd other Collonies. And itt is 
hereby declared, that itt shall not bee lawfuU to or ffor the rest 
of the Collonies to invade or molest the native Indians, or any 
other inhabitants, inhabiting within the bounds and lymitts here- 
after mentioned (they having subjected themselves unto us, and 
being by us taken into our speciall protection), without the know- 
ledge and consent of the Governour and Company of our Collony 
of Rhode-Island and Providence Plantations. . . . And ffurther, 
know ye, that wee . . . doe give, graunt and confirme, unto the 
sayd Governour and Company, and theire successours, all that 
parte of our dominiones in New-England, in America, conteyneing 
the Nahantick and Nanhyganset Bay, and countryes and partes 
adjacent, bounded on the west, or westerly, to the middle or 
channel of a river there, commonly called and known by the name 
of Pawcatuck, alias Pawcawtuck river, and soe along the sayd 
river, as the greater or middle streame thereof reacheth or lyes 
vpp into the north countrye, northward, unto the head thereof, 
and from thence, by a streight lyne drawne due north, untill itt 
meets with the south lyne of the Massachusetts CoUonie; and 
on the north, or northerly, by the aforesayd south or southerly 
lyne of the Massachusetts Collony or Plantation, and extending 
towards the east, or eastwardly, three English miles to the east 
and north-east of the most eastern and north-eastern parts of the 
aforesayd Narragansett Bay, as the sayd bay lyeth or extendeth 
itself from the ocean on the south, or southwardly, unto the 
mouth of the river which runneth towards the towne of Provi- 



72 SECOND NAVIGATION ACT July 8/18 

dence, and from thence along the eastwardly side or banke of 
the sayd river (higher called by the name of Seacunck river), up 
to the ffals called Patuckett ffalls, being the most westwardly lyne 
of Plymouth CoUony, and soe from the sayd ffalls, in a streight 
lyne, due north, untill itt meete with the aforesayd lyne of the 
Massachusetts CoUony; and bounded on the south by the ocean: 
and, in particular, the lands belonging to the townes of Provi- 
dence, Pawtuxet, Warwicke, Misquammacok, alias Pawcatuck, 
and the rest upon the maine land in the tract aforesaid, together 
with Rhode-Island, Blocke-Island, and all the rest of the islands 
and banks in the Narragansett Bay, and bordering upon the coast 
of the tract aforesayd (Ffisher's Island only excepted), . . . any 
graunt, or clause in a late graunt, to the Governour and Company 
of Connecticutt Collony, in America, to the contrary thereof in 
any wise notwithstanding; . . . ^nli futtf)rr, our will and 
pleasure is, that in all matters of publicjue controversy which may 
fall out betweene our Collony of Providence Plantations, and the 
rest of our Collonies in New-England, itt shall and may bee law- 
full to and for the Governour and Company of the sayd Collony 
of Providence Plantations to make their appeals therein to us 
. . . , for redresse in such cases, within this our realme of England : 
and that itt shall be lawfull to and for the inhabitants of the sayd 
Collony . . . , without let or molestation, to passe and repasse 
with freedome, into and through the rest of the English Collonies, 
upon their lawfull and civill occasions, and to converse, and hold 
commerce and trade, with such of the inhabitants of our other 
English Collonies as shall bee willing to admitt them thereunto, 
they behaveing themselves peaceably among them. . . . 



No. 19. Second Navigation Act 
1663 

The Navigation Act of 1 660 had assured to English vessels a monopoly of 
the carrying trade between the colonies and England; but English vessels 
might still trade, except in certain "enumerated articles," directly between 
colonial and foreign ports. The act of 1663 aimed to benefit the merchants 
as well as the shipowners, by securing to English merchants the control of the 
colonial import trade. 



1663] SECOND NAVIGATION ACT 73 

References. — Text in Statutes of the Realm, V., 449-452. The act is 
cited as 15 Car. II., c. 7. 

An Act for the Encouragement of Trade. 

[IV.] And in reguard His Majesties Plantations beyond the 
Seas are inhabited and peopled by His Subjects of this His King- 
dome of England, For the maintaining a greater correspondence 
and kindnesse betweene them and keepeing them in a firmer 
dependence upon it, and rendring them yet more beneficiall and 
advantagious unto it in the farther Imployment and Encrease of 
English Shipping and Seamen, vent of English Woollen and other 
Manufactures and Commodities rendring the Navigation to and 
from the same more safe and cheape, and makeing this King- 
dome a Staple not onely of the Commodities of those Plantations 
but alsoe of the Commodities of other Countryes and Places for 
the supplying of them, and it being the usage of other Nations 
to keepe their [Plantations ^] Trade to themselves, Be it enacted 
. . . That from and after . . . [March 25, 1664,] . . . noe 
Commoditie of the Growth Production or Manufacture of Europe 
shall be imported into any Land Island Plantation Colony Terri- 
tory or Place to His Majestie belonging, or which shall [belong 
hereafter^] unto, or be in the Possession of His Majestie . . . 
in Asia Africa or America (Tangier onely excepted) but what 
shall be bona fide and without fraude laden and shipped in England 
Wales [and ^] the Towne of Berwicke upon Tweede and in 
English built Shipping, or which were bona fide bought before 
. . . [October i, 1662,] . . . and had such Certificate thereof 
as is directed . . . [by the explanatory Navigation Act of 1662,] 
. . . and whereof the Master and three Fourthes of the Marriners 
at least are English, and which shall be carryed directly thence 
to the said Lands Islands Plantations Colonyes Territories or 
Places, and from noe other place or places whatsoever Any Law 
Statute or Usage to the contrary notwithstanding, under the 
Penaltie of the losse of all such Commodities of the Growth Pro- 
duction or Manufacture of Europe as shall be imported into any 
of them from any other Place whatsoever by Land or Water, 

' Plantation in the original Ms. 

^ Hcrcajlcr belong in the original Ms. 

^ The original Ms. has or. 



74 GRANT TO THE DUKE OF YORK [March 12/22 

and if by Water, of the Ship, or \'essell alsoe in which they were 
imported with all her Guns Tackle Furniture Ammunition and 
Apparell. . . . 

[\\] PRO^TDED alwayes . . . That it shall and may be lawfull 
to shipp and lade in such Shipps, and soe navigated as in the 
foregoeing Clause is sett downe and expressed in any part of 
Europe Salt for the Fisheries of New England and New found 
land, and to shipp and lade in the Medera's Wines of the Growth 
thereof, and to shipp and lade in the A\'esterne Islands or Azores 
Wines of the Growth of the said Islands, and to shipp [or ^] take 
in Servants or Horses in Scotland or Ireland, and to shipp or 
lade in Scotland all sorts of \'ictuall of the Growth or Produc- 
tion of Scotland, and to shipp or lade in Ireland all sortes of 
Victuall of the Growth or Production of Ireland, and the same 
to transport into any of the said Lands Islands Plantations Colo- 
nyes Territories or Places, Any thing in the foregoing Clause in 
the contrary in any wise notwithstanding. 

******** 

[ATI.] AxD it is hereby further enacted That if any Officer of 
the Customes in England ^^'ales or Towne of Benvicke upon 
Tweede shall give any Warrant for or suffer any Sugar, Tobaccho, 
Ginger, Cotton, Wooll, Indico Speckle Wood or Jamaica Wood 
Fusticke or other Dying Wood of the growth of any of the said 
Lands Islands Colonyes Plantations Territories or Places to be 
carryed into any other Countn- or Place whatsoever untill they 
have beene first unladen bona fide and putt on shore in some 
Port or Haven in England or Wales or in the Towne of Berwicke, 
that ever}- such Officer for such Offence shall forfeite his place 
and the value of such of the said Goods as he shall give Warrant 
for or suffer to passe into any other Country or Place. . . . 



No. 20. Grant to the Duke of York 

March 12/22, 1663/4 

The province of New Netherland, granted to the Duke of York, brother of 
Charles II., in March, 1663/4, was not surrendered to the English until the 

* And in the original Ms. 



1663/4] GRANT TO THE DUKE OF YORK 75 

follow-ing August. By the treaty of Breda, in 1667, the English occupation 
was confirmed. On the renewal of the war between England and the United 
Netherlands, in March, 1672/73, New York was retaken by the Dutch, 
and a general act of confiscation was passed, including in its scope property 
of the King and of the Duke of York; but the treaty of Westminster, in 1674, 
pro\4ding for a mutual restoration of conquests, reestablished the English 
control. To remove any doubt as to the validity of the grant of 1664, and 
other grants made under it, due to the temporary occupation by the Dutch, 
a second grant was made June 29/ July 9, 1674, in terms only verbally 
different from the first. 

Referen'CES. — Text in Documents relating to the Colonial History of New 
York, II., 295-298. On the English conquest, see Sainsbury's Calendar of 
State Papers, Colonial, V. The so-called "Duke of York's Laws," 1676- 
1682, have been reprinted by the State of Pennsylvania (Harrisburg, 1879), 
in a volume containing also the charter and early laws of Pennsylvania. 



CHARLES the Second, . . . [ &c.] . . . Know ye that we 
. . . Do Give and Grant unto our Dearest Brother James Duke 
of York his Heirs and Assigns All that part of the maine Land of 
New England beginning at a certain place called or known by the 
name of St Croix next adjoining to Xew Scotland in America and 
from thence extending along the Sea Coast unto a certain place 
called Petuaquine or Pemaquid and so up the River thereof to the 
furthest head of the same as it tendeth Northwards and extending 
from thence to the River Kinebequi and so Upwards by the 
Shortest course to the River Canada Northward And also all 
that Island or Islands commonly called by the several name or 
names of Matowacks or Long Island situate lying and being 
towards the West of Cape Cod and the Narrow Higansetts abut- 
ting upon the main land between the two Rivers there called or 
known by the several names of Connecticut and Hudsons River 
together also with the said River called Hudsons River and all 
the Land from the West side of Connecticut to the East side of 
Delaware Bay and also all those several Islands called or known 
by the Names of Martin's \'inyard and Nantukes otherwise Nan- 
tuckett. . . . And the said James Duke of York doth . . . 
covenant and promise to }-ield and render unto us ... of and 
for the same yearly . . . forty Beaver skins when they shall be 
demanded or within Ninety days after And We do further . . . 
Grant unto . . . James Duke of York his Heirs, Deputies, 
Agents, Commissioners and Assigns by these presents full and 



76 SECOND CHARTER OF CAROLINA [June 30/July 10 

absolute power and authority to correct, punish, pardon, govern 
and rule all such the subjects of us . . . who may from time 
to time adventure themselves into any the parts or places afore- 
said or that shall or do at any time hereafter inhabit within the 
same according to such Laws, Orders, Ordinances, Directions 
and Instruments as by our said Dearest Brother or his Assigns 
shall be established ... So always as the said Statutes Ordi- 
nances and proceedings be not contrary to but as near as con- 
veniently may be agreeable to the Laws, Statutes & Government 
of this Our Realm of England And saving and reserving to us 
. . . the receiving, hearing and determining of the Appeal and 
Appeals of all or any Person or Persons of in or belonging to the 
territories or Islands aforesaid in or touching any Judgment or 
Sentence to be there made or given And further that it shall . . . 
be lawful ... for our said Dearest Brother his Heirs and Assigns 
by these presents from time to time to nominate, make, constitute, 
ordain and confirm by such name or names stile or stiles as to him 
or them shall seem good and likewise to revoke, discharge, change 
and alter as well all and singular Governors, Officers and Minis- 
ters which hereafter shall be by him or them thought fit and need- 
ful to be made or used within the aforesaid parts and Islands 
And also to make, ordain and establish all manner of Orders, 
Laws, directions, instructions, forms and Ceremonies of Govern- 
ment and Magistracy fit and necessary for and Concerning the 
Government of the territories and Islands aforesaid so always as the 
same be not contrary to the laws and statutes of this Our Realm 
of England but as near as may be agreeable thereunto. . . . 



No. 21. Second Charter of Carolina 

June 30/July 10, 1665 

Although the Heath grant of 1629 had been declared void by an order in 
council, it had not been judicially annulled; and it was, apparently, to quiet 
the title to the province, as well as to enlarge the boundaries, that the second 
Carolina charter was obtained. With the exception of the definition of boun- 
daries, given in the extract following, the provisions of the two charters are 
similar. The proprietary government under the charter continued, with 



1665] SECOND CHARTER OF CAROLINA 77 

many vicissitudes, until 17 19, when it was overthrown; but the proprietors 
maintained their ownership until 1729, when the title of seven-eighths of the 
colony was purchased by the Crown. The proprietor of the remaining one- 
eighth, Lord Carteret, exchanged his portion in 1743 for a narrow strip of 
land between 35° 34' north latitude and the southern boundary of Virginia, 
which he retained until the Revolution. During most of the proprietary 
period the northern and southern colonies enjoyed separate governments, 
although the province was held as a unit; but with the purchase of the 
proprietary title by the Crown, in 1729, North and South Carolina became 
separate royal provinces, and so continued until the adoption of State consti- 
tutions in 1776. 

References. — Text in Statutes at Large of South Carolina (Cooper's ed., 
1836), I., 31-40. 

CHARLES the Second, . . . [&c.] . . . WHEREAS, by our 

Letters Patents, bearing date . . . [March 24, 1663,] . . . We 
were graciously pleased to grant unto . . . Edward Earl of Clar- 
endon, our High Chancellor of England . . . [and others] . . , 
all that province . . . called Carolina, situate, lying and being 
within our dominions of America; extending from the north end 
of the island called Luke-Island, which lieth in the Southern 
Virginia seas, and within thirty-six degrees of north latitude ; and 
to the west, as far as the South-Seas; and so respectively as far as 
the river of Matthias, which bordereth upon the coast of Florida, 
and within thirty-one degrees of north latitude; and so west, 
in a direct line, as far as the South-Seas aforesaid. 

2d. Now know ye, that we . . . are graciously pleased to 
enlarge our said grant unto them, according to the bounds and 
limits hereafter specified, ... all that Province, territory, or 
tract of ground, scituate, lying and being within our domin- 
ions of America aforesaid, extending north and eastward as 
far as the north end of Charahake river or gulet, upon a 
streight westerly line to Wyonoake Creek, which lies within 
or about the degrees of thirty-six, and thirty minutes northern 
latitude, and so west in a direct line as far as the South-seas; and 
South and Westward as far as the degrees of twenty-nine inclusive 
northern latitude, and so west in a direct line, as far as the South 
Seas; together with all and singular ports, harbours, bays, rivers, 
and islets, belonging unto the Province or territory aforesaid. . . . 

4th. And that the Province or territory hereby granted and 
described, may be dignified with as large Titles and Priviledges 



78 THIRD NAVIGATION ACT [1672 

as any other parts of our Dominions and territories in that region, 
Know ye, that we . . . do . . . annex and unite the same to the 
said Province of CaroHna. . . . 



No. 22. Third Navigation Act 
1672 

The immediate object of the act of 1672 was to prevent the illegal trade in 
tobacco between the American colonies and the continent of Europe. To- 
bacco was one of the articles which, by the Navigation Act of 1660, could be 
exported only to England or to another colony ; but the increasing demand for 
this product, together with the high' price which must be paid for such tobacco 
as had paid custonis duty in England, served to encourage smuggling and 
illicit trade. The distinguishing feature of the act of 1672 is the requirement 
of a bond that the "enumerated articles" would be landed in England, and the 
imposition of specified duties in case of failure of the merchant to comply. 

References. — Text in Statutes of the Realm, V., 792, 793. The act is 
cited as 25 Car. II., c. 7. The regulation of the trade in tobacco was the 
subject of various acts; these are enumerated and discussed in the work of 
Beer, cited under No. 15, ante. 

An Act for the incouragement of the Greeneland and Eastland 
Trades, and for the better secureing the Plantation Trade. 

[V.] And whereas by . . . [the Navigation Act of 1660] . . . , 
and by several) other Lawes passed since that time it is permitted to 
shipp, carry, convey and transport Sugar, Tobacco, Cotton-wooll, 
Indicoe, Ginger, Fusticke and all other Dying wood of the Growth, 
Production and Manufacture of any of your Majestyes Planta- 
tions in America, Asia or Africa from the places of their Growth 
Production and Manufacture to any other of your Majestyes 
Plantations in those Parts (Tangier onely excepted) and that 
without paying of Custome for the same either at ladeing or 
unladeing of the said Commodityes by meanes whereof the Trade 
and Navigation in those Commodityes from one Plantation to 
another is greatly increased, and the Inhabitants of diverse of 
those Colonies not contenting themselves with being supplyed 
with those Commodities for their owne use free from all Customes 
(while the Subjects of this your Kingdome of England have paid 



1672] THIRD NAVIGATION ACT 79 

great Customes and Impositions for what of them hath beene 
spent here) but contrary to the expresse Letter of the aforesaid 
Lawes have brought into diverse parts of Europe great quantities 
thereof, and doe alsoe [dayly ^] vend great quantities thereof to 
the shipping of other Nations who bring them into diverse parts 
of Europe to the great hurt and diminution of your Majestyes 
Customes and of the Trade and Navigation of this your King- 
dome ; For the prevention thereof . . . bee it enacted . . . That 
from and after . . . [September i, 1673,] ... If any Shipp or 
Vessell which by Law may trade in any of your Majesties Planta- 
tions shall come to any of them to shipp and take on board any 
of the aforesaid Commodities, and that Bond shall not be first 
given with one sufficient Surety to bring the same to England or 
Wales or the Towne of Berwicke upon Tweede and to noe other 
place, and there to unloade and putt the same on shoare (the 
danger of the Seas onely excepted) that there shall be . . . paid 
to your Majestie . . . for soe much of the said Commodities as 
shall be laded and putt on board such Shipp or Vessell these 
following Rates and Dutyes, That is to say 

For Sugar White the hundred Weight containing one hundred 
and twelve pounds five shillings; 

And Browne Sugar and Muscavadoes the hundred weight con- 
taining one hundred and twelve pounds one shilling [and^J six 
pence; 

For Tobacco the pound one penny ; 

For Cotton-wooll the pound one halfe-penny ; 

For Indicoe the pound, two pence; 

For Ginger the hundred Weight containing one hundred and 
twelve pounds one shilling; 

For Logwood the hundred Weight containing one hundred and 
twelve pounds, five pounds. 

For Fusticke and all other Dying-wood the hundred Weight 
containing one hundred and twelve pounds six pence; 

And alsoe for every pound of Cacao-nutts one penny . . . 

' Interlined in the Roll. 
2 (f?' in the original. 



8o CHARTER OF PENNSYLVANIA [March 4/14 

No. 23. Charter of Pennsylvania 

March 4/14, 1680/81 

William Penn inherited from his father, Admiral Perm, a claim against 
the King, Charles II., which eventually amounted to some ;£i6,ooo. On 
account of this claim, which was not formally relinquished, and also with a 
view to founding a colony under Quaker rule, Penn petitioned, in June, 
1680, for a grant of land in America. The petition indicated the extent of 
the desired grant; but experience had made the colonial authorities in Eng- 
land cautious, and Penn's application, though favored by the King and the 
Duke of York, was carefully considered. The representatives of the Duke 
and of Lord Baltimore were consulted, and took a prominent part in the 
negotiations; but in December the attorney-general reported that the pro- 
posed grant did not interfere with their territorial claims. The boundaries 
were approved Jan. 15/25, 1680/81, and March 4/14 the charter was issued. 
The original draft of the charter, drawn up by Penn on the model of the 
charter of Maryland, was revised by Chief Justice North, and important 
modifications introduced. A royal proclamation of April 2/12 announced 
the issuance of the charter, and commanded obedience to its provisions. 
Penn shortly issued a pamphlet setting forth the advantages of the region 
and the conditions of settlement. In August, 1682, he obtained from the 
Duke of York a quit-claim deed of the territory included in Pennsylvania, 
and two deeds of feofment, one of Newcastle, with the land within a twelve- 
mile circuit about it, and the other of the land between Newcastle and Cape 
Henlopen. 

References. — Text in Charter and Laws of Pennsylvania (Harrisburg, 
1879), 81-90. An abstract of Penn's proposals is in Hazard's Annals oj 
Pennsylvania, 505-513; the deeds from the Duke of York are also in ih., 
586-593. For the early documentary history, see Votes of Assembly, I.; 
Colonial Records, I.; Hazard's Pennsylvania Archives, I. Shepherd's 
History of Proprietary Government in Pennsylvania (Columbia Univ. Studies, 
VI.) is of prime importance. 

CHARLES THE SECOND [&c.] . . . Knowe yee . . . 
that wee, favouring the petition and good purpose of the said Wil- 
liam Penn, and haveing regard to the memorie and meritts of his 
late father, in divers services, and perticulerly to his Conduct, 
courage and discretion under our dearest brother, James, Duke 
of yorke, in that signal! Battell and victorie, fought and obteyned 
against the Dutch fieete, comanded by the Herr Van Obdam, 
... [in 1665,] ... In consideration thereof . . . by this Our 
present Charter . . . Doe give and grant unto the said Wil- 



i68o/8i] CHARTER OF PENNSYLVANIA 8l 

liam Penn, his heires and assignes All that Tract or parte of land 
in America, with all the Islands therein conteyned, as the same 
is bounded on the East by Delaware River, from twelve miles 
distance, Northwarde of New Castle Towne unto the three and 
fortieth degree of Northerne Latitude if the said River doeth extend 
soe farre Northwards; But if the said River shall not extend soe 
farre Northward, then by the said River soe farr as it doth extend, 
and from the head of the said River the Easterne Bounds are to bee 
determined by a IMeridian Line, to bee drawne from the head of 
the said River unto the said three and fortieth degree, The said 
lands to extend westwards, five degrees in longitude, to bee com- 
puted from the said Eastern Bounds, and the said lands to bee 
bounded on the North, by the beginning of the three and fortieth 
degree of Northern latitude, and on the South, by a Circle drawne 
at twelve miles, distance from New Castle Northwards, and 
Westwards unto the beginning of the fortieth degree of Northerne 
Latitude ; and then by a streight Line westwards, to the Limitt 
of Longitude above menconed. Wee Doe also . . . grant unto 
the said William Penn . . . the free and undisturbed use, and 
continuance in and passage into and out of all and singuler Ports, 
harbours, Bayes, waters. Rivers, Isles and Inletts, belonging unto or 
leading to and from the Countrey, or Islands aforesaid; . . . and 
him the said William Penn, his heires and Assignes, Wee do, by this 
our Royall Charter . . . make. Create . . . the true and absolute 
Proprietaries of the Countrey aforesaid, and of all other, the 
premisses, saving alwayes to us . . . the faith and allegiance of 
the said WiUiam Penn . . . , and of all other, the proprietaries, 
Tenants and Inhabitants that are, or shall be within the Ter- 
ritories and Precincts aforesaid; and Saving also unto us . . , 
the Sovreignity of the aforesaid Countrey. . . . To bee holden of 
us ... as of our Castle of Windsor, in our County of Berks, in 
free and comon socage by fealty only for all services, and not in 
Capite or by Knights service, Yeelding and paying therefore . . . 
two beaver Skins ... in every yeare; and also the fifth parte 
of all Gold and Silver Oare, which shall from time to time happen 
to be found within the Limitts aforesaid, cleare of all Charges, 
and . . . wee doe hereby erect the aforesaid Countrey and Islands, 
into a Province and Seigniorie, and doe caU itt Pensilvania . . . 
[The proprietor may make laws with the assent of the freemen, 



82 CHARTER OF PENNSYLVANIA [March 4/14 

appoint magistrates and other officers, and punish all crimes and 
offences except treason and murder.] Provided, Nevertheles, that 
the said Lawes bee consonant to reason, and bee not repugnant 
or contrarie, but as neare as conveniently may bee agreeable to 
the Lawes, Statutes and rights of this our Kingdome of England, 
And Saveing and reserving to us, Our heirs and Successors, the 
receiving, heareing and determining of the Appeale and Appeales, 
of all or any person or persons, of, in or belonging to the Ter- 
ritories aforesaid, or touching any Judgement to bee there made 
or given . . . [In emergencies, the proprietor or his representa- 
tives may make ordinances without the consent of the freemen; 
the same to be agreeable to the laws of England] . . . And 
to the End the said William Penn, or heires, or other, the Planters, 
Owners or Inhabitants of the said Province, may not att any 
time hereafter, by misconstrucon of the powers aforesaid, through 
inadvertiencie or designe, depart from that faith and due alle- 
giance which by the Lawes of this our Realme of England, they 
and all our subjects, in our Dominions and Territories, always 
owe unto us ... by colour of any extent or largenesse of powers 
hereby given, or pretended to bee given, or by force or colour of 
any lawes hereafter to bee made in the said Province, by vertue 
of any such powers. Our further will and pleasure is, that a 
transcript or Duplicate of all lawes which shall bee soe as afore- 
said, made and published within the said province, shall within 
five yeares after the makeing thereof, be transmitted and delivered 
to the privy Councell . . . ; And if any of the said Lawes within 
the space of six months, after that they shall be soe transmitted 
and dehvered, bee declared by us . . . in our . . . privy Councell, 
inconsistent with the sovereignety or lawfuU prerogative of us 
... or contrary to the faith and allegiance due by [to] the legall 
Government of this realme, from the said William Penn, or his 
heires, or of the Planters and Inhabitants of the said province; and 
that thereupon any of the said Lawes shall bee adjudged and 
declared to bee void . . . that then, and from thenceforth such 
Lawes concerning which such Judgement and declaracon shall 
be made, shall become voyd, otherwise the said lawes soe trans- 
mitted, shall remaine and stand in full force according to the true 
intent and meaneing thereof. . . . We Will alsoe, and by these 
presents . . . doe . . . grant licence . . . unto the said William 



i68o/8i] CHARTER OF PENNSYLVANIA 83 

Penn . . . and to all the inhabitants and dwellers in pvince afore- 
said ... to import or unlade by themselves or theire Servants, 
ffactors or assignes, all merchandizes and goods whatsoever, that 
shall arise of the fruites and comodities of the said province, either 
by Land or Sea, into any of the ports ... in our kingdome of 
England, and not into any other countrey whatsoever. And Wee 
give him full power to dispose of the said goods in the said ports, 
and if need bee, within one yeare next after the unladeing of the 
same, to Lade the said Merchandizes and goodes again into the 
same or other shipps, and to export the same into any other 
Countreys, either of our Dominions or fforreigne, according to 
Lawe: Provided alwayes, that they pay such customes and impo- 
sicons, subsidies and duties for the same ... as the rest of our 
subjects of our kingdome of England, for the time being shall be 
bound to pay. And doe observe the Acts of Navigation and other 
Lawes in that behalfe made. . . . And Wee doe further . . . 
ordaine . . . That he the said William penn . . . mav from 
time to time forever, have and enjoy the Customes and Subsidies 
in the ports, harbours and other Creeks, and places aforesaid, 
within the pvince aforesaid, payable or due for merchandizes and 
wares, there to be Laded and unladed, the said Customes and 
Subsidies to be reasonably assessed, upon any occasion by them- 
selves, and the people there as aforesaid, to be assembled to whom 
wee Give power, by these presents ... to assesse and impose the 
same, Saveing unto us . . . such imposicons and customes as by 
Act of parliament are and shall be appointed . . . [The pro- 
prietor to appoint an agent, who shall reside in England.] . . . 
And further . . . Wee doe Covenant and grant to and with the 
said William Penn, and his heires and assignes. That Wee . . . 
shall att no time hereafter sett or make, or cause to be sett, any 
impossicon, custome or other taxacon, rate or contribucon what- 
soever, in and upon the dwellers and inhabitants of the aforesaid 
pvince, for their Lands, tenements, goods or chattels, within the 
said province, or in and upon any goods or merchandize within the 
said pvince, or to be laden or unladen within the ports or har- 
bours of the said pvince, unles the same be with the consent of 
the pprietary, or chiefe Governor and assembly, or by Act of 
parliament in England. . . . And . . . Wee doe hereby . . . 
charge and require that if any of the inhabitants of the said pvince, 



84 SECOND CHARTER OF MASSACHUSETTS [Oct. 7/17 

to the number of Twenty, shall att any time hereafter be desirous, 
and shall by any writeing or by any pson deputed for them, signify 
■such their desire to the Bishop of London, that any preacher or 
preachers to be approved of by the said Bishop, may be sent unto 
them for their instruccon, that then such preacher or preachers, 
shall and may be and reside within the said pvince, without any 
deniall or molestacon whatsoever. . . . 



No. 24. Second Charter of Massachusetts 

October 7/17, 1691 

In /Vpril, 1688, Increase Mather was sent to England to urge a restoration 
of the Massachusetts charter of 1629; and after the flight of James II. and 
the deposition of Andros, government under the charter was temporarily 
resumed. In January, 1688/9, Mather learned that "a circular letter was to 
be sent to all the plantations confirming the existing governments until further 
orders." He succeeded in stopping the dispatch of the letters intended for 
New England, and thus prevented the reinstatement of Andros, who was 
shortly made governor of Virginia. When it became clear that the old 
charter would not be restored, and that Massachusetts would remain a royal 
province, Mather and two other representatives of the colony petitioned for 
a new charter. The petition was favorably received, and the instrument was 
drafted in consultation with the agents. 

References. — - Text in ^c;5 avd Resolves of the Province 0/ Massachusetts 
Bay, I., 1-20. On the vacating of the charter of 1629, see Toppan's Edivard 
Randolph (Prince Soc. Publ.), I., II.; the exempHfication is in Mass. Hist. 
Coll., Fourth Series, II., 246-278. 

[The charter begins by reciting the grant of a patent in 1620 
to the Council for New England, the grant by the Council to the 
Massachusetts Bay Company in 1628, the royal charter of 1629, 
and the vacating of the charter by a judgment in chancery in 
1684, and continues:] 

StttJ SSEfjcrcas severall persons employed as Agents in behalfe 
of Our said CoUony of the Massachusetts Bay in New England 
have made their humble application unto Us that Wee would be 
graciously pleased by Our Royall Charter to Incorporate Our 
Subjects in Our said CoUony . . . And alsoe to the end Our good 
Subjects within Our Collony of New Plymouth in New England 
aforesaid may be brought under such a forme of Government as 



1691] SECOND CHARTER OF MASSACHUSETTS 85 

may put them in a better Condition of defence . . . Wee doe by 
these presents for Us Our Heirs and Successors Will and Ordeyne 
that the Territories and Collonyes comonly called or known by the 
Names of the Collony of the Massachusetts Bay and CoUony of 
New Plymouth the Province of Main the Territorie called Accadia 
or Nova Scotia and all that Tract of Land lying betweene the said 
Territori/or/es of Nova Scotia and the said Province of Main be 
Erected United and Incorporated . . . into one reall Province by 
the Name of Our Province of the Massachusetts Bay in New 
England And . . . Wee doe . . . grant unto . . . the Inhabit- 
ants of . . . the Massachusetts Bay and their Successors all that 
parte of New England in America lying and extending from the 
greate River commonly called Monomack alias Merrimack on the 
Northpart and from three Miles Northward of the said River to 
the Atlantick or Western Sea or Ocean on the South part And all 
the Lands and Hereditaments whatsoever lying within the limitts 
aforesaid and extending as farr as the Outermost Points or Prom- 
ontories of Land called Cape Cod and Cape Mallabar North and 
South and in Latitude Breadth and in Length and Longitude of and 
within all the Breadth and Compass aforesaid throughout the 
Main Land there from the said Atlantick or Western Sea and 
Ocea;n on the East parte towards the South Sea or Westward as 
far as Our Collonyes of Rhode Island Connecticutt and the 
Marragansett [Narragansett] Countrey all alsoe all that part or 
portion of Main Land beginning at the Entrance of Pescata way 
Harbour and soe to pass upp the same into the River of Newicke- 
wannock and through the same into the furthest head thereof and 
from thence Northwestward till One Hundred and Twenty Miles 
be finished and from Piscata way Harbour mouth aforesaid North- 
Eastward along the Sea Coast to Sagadehock and from the Period 
of One Hundred and Twenty Miles aforesaid to crosse over Land 
to the One Hundred and Twenty Miles before reckoned up into 
the Land from Piscataway Harbour through Newickawannock 
River and also the North halfe of the Isles and [of] Shoales to- 
gether with the Isles of Cappawock and Nantukett near Cape 
Cod aforesaid and alsoe [all] Lands and Hereditaments lying 
and being in the Countrey and Territory commonly called Accadia 
or Nova Scotia And all those Lands and Hereditaments lying and 
extending betweene the said Countrey or Territory of Nova Scotia 



86 SECOND CHARTER OF MASSACHUSETTS [Oct. 7/17 

and the said River of Sagadahock or any part thereof . . . and 
alsoe all Islands and Isletts lying within tenn Leagues directly 
opposite to the Main Land within the said bounds . . . And Wee 
doe further . . . ordeyne that . . . there shall be one Governour 
One Leiutenant or Deputy Governour and One Secretary of Our 
said Province or Territory to be from time to time appointed and 
Commissionated by Us . . . and Eight and Twenty Assistants 
or Councillors to be advising and assisting to the Governour . . . 
for the time being as by these presents is hereafter directed and 
appointed which said Councillors or Assistants are to be Con- 
stituted Elected and Chosen in such forme and manner as hereafter 
in these presents is expressed And for the better Execution of Our 
Royall Pleasure and Grant in this behalfe Wee . . . Nominate 
. . . Simon Broadstreet John Richards Nathaniel Saltenstall Wait 
Winthrop John Phillipps James Russell Samuell Sewall Samuel 
Appleton Barthilomew Gedney John Hawthorn Elisha Hutchin- 
son Robert Pike Jonathan Curwin John Jolhffe Adam Winthrop 
Richard Middlecot John Foster Peter Serjeant Joseph Lynd 
Samuell Havman Stephen Mason Thomas Hinckley William 
Bradford John Walley Barnabas Lothrop Job Alcott Samuell 
Daniell and Silvanus Davis Esquiers the first and present Coun- 
cillors or Assistants of Our said Province . . . ^\jl) 'W.n doe 
further . . . appoint . . . Isaac Addington Esquier to be Our 
first and present Secretary of Our said Province during Our 
Pleasure 2lnt) ©uu Will and Pleasure is that the Governour . . . 
shall have Authority from time to time at his discretion to assemble 
and call together the Councillors or Assistants . . . and that the 
said Governour with the said Assistants or Councillors or Seaven of 
them at the least shall and may from time to time hold and keep 
a Councill for the ordering and directing the Affaires of Our said 
Province Snti further Wee Will . . . that there shall ... be 
convened . . . by the Governour . . . upon every last Wednesday 
in the Moneth of May every yeare for ever and at all such other 
times as the Governour . . . shall think fitt and appoint a great 
and Generall Court of Assembly Which . . . shall consist of the 
Governour and Councill or Assistants . . . and of such Free- 
holders ... as shall be from time to time elected or deputed by 
the Major parte of the Freeholders and other Inhabitants of the re- 
spective Townes or Places who shall be present at such Elections 



1691] SECOND CHARTER OF MASSACHUSETTS 87 

Each of the said Townes and Places being hereby impowered to 
Elect and Depute Two Persons and noe more to serve for and 
represent them respectively in the said Great and Generall Court 
... To which Great and Generall Court . . . Wee doe hereby 
. . . grant full power and authority from time to time to direct . . . 
what Number each County Towne and Place shall Elect and 
Depute to serve for and represent them respectively . . . ^robiliEti 
alwayes that noe Freeholder or other Person shall have a Vote in 
the Election of Members . . . who at the time of such Election 
shall not have an estate of Freehold in Land A\ithin Our said 
Province or Territory to the value of Forty Shillings per Annum 
at the least or other estate to the value of Forty ^ pounds Sterling 
And that every Person who shall be soe elected shall before he sitt 
or Act in the said Great and Generall Court . . . take the Oaths 
mentioned in an Act of Parliament made in the first yeare of Our 
Reigne Entituled an Act for abrogateing of the Oaths of Alle- 
giance and Supremacy and appointing other Oaths and thereby 
appointed to be taken instead of the Oaths of Allegiance and 
Supremacy and shall make Repeat and Subscribe the Declaration 
mentioned in the said Act . . . and that the Governour for the 
time being shall have full power and Authority from time to time 
as he shall Judge necessary to adjourne Prorogue and dissolve 
all Great and Generall Courts . . . met and convened as aforesaid 
And . . . Wee doe . . . Ordeyne that yearly once in every yeare 
. . . the aforesaid Number of Eight and Twenty Councillors or 
Assistants shall be by the Generall Court . . . newly chosen that 
is to say Eighteen at least of the Inhabitants of or Proprietors of 
Lands within the Territory formerly called the Collony of the 
Massachusetts Bay and four at the least of the Inhabitants of or 
Proprietors of Lands within the Territory formerly called New 
Plymouth and three at the least of the Inhabitants of or Proprietors 
of Land within the Territory formerly called the Province of Main 
and one at the least of the Inhabitants of or Proprietors of Land 
within the Territory lying between the River of Sagadahoc and 
Nova Scotia . . . [The General Court may remove assistants 
from office, and may also fill vacancies caused by removal or death.] 
And Wee doe further . . . Ordeyne that it shall and may be 

• See note in Acts and Resolves, vol. I., p. 393. — Ed. 



88 SECOND CHARTER OF MASSACHUSETTS [Oct. 7/17 

lawful! for the said Governour with the advice and consent of 
the Councill or Assistants from time to time to nominate and 
appoint Judges Commissioners of Oyer and Terminer Sherififs 
Provosts Marshalls Justices of the Peace and other Officers to 
Our Councill and Courts of Justice belonging . . . and for the 
greater Ease and Encouragement of Our Loveing Subjects In- 
habiting our said Province . . . and of such as shall come to 
Inhabit there We doe . . . Ordaine that for ever hereafter there 
shall be a liberty of Conscience allowed in the Worshipp of God 
to all Christians (Except Papists) Inhabiting . . . within our said 
Province . . . [Courts for the trial of both civil and criminal 
cases may be established by the General Court, reserving to the 
governor and assistants matters of probate and administration.] 
^nti Inljcvcas Wee judge it necessary that all our Subjects should 
have liberty to Appeale to us ... in Cases that may deserve 
the same Wee doe . . . Ordaine that incase either party shall not 
rest satisfied with the Judgement or Sentence of any Judicatories 
or Courts within our said Province ... in any Personal! Action 
wherein the matter in difference doth exceed the value of three 
hundred Pounds Sterling that then he or they may appeale to us 
... in our . . . Privy Councill . . . ^nti we doe further 
. . . grant to the said Governor and the great and Generall 
Court . . . full power and Authority from time to time to make 
... all manner of wholesome and reasonable Orders Laws 
Statutes and Ordinances Directions and Instructions either with 
penalties or without (soe as the same be not repugnant or con- 
trary to the Lawes of this our Realme of England) as they shall 
Judge to be for the good and welfare of our said Province. . . . 
And for the Government and Ordering thereof and of the People 
Inhabiting . . . the same and for the necessary support and 
Defence of the Government thereof [and also] full power and 
Authority to name and settle Annually all Civill Officers within 
the said Province such Officers Excepted the Election and 
Constitution of whome wee have by these presents reserved to us 
... or to the Governor . . . and to Settforth the several! Duties 
Powers and Lymitts of every such Officer . . . and the forms of 
such Oathes not repugnant to the Lawes and Statutes of this our 
Realme of England as shall be respectively Administred unto 
them for the Execution of their several! Offices and places And 



1 691] SECOND CHARTER OF MASSACHUSETTS 8g 

alsoe to impose Fines mulcts Imprisonments and other Punish- 
ments And to Impose and leavy proportionable and reasonable 
Assessments Rates and Taxes upon the Estates and Persons of all 
and every the Proprietors and Inhabitants of our said Province 
or Territory ... for Our Service in the necessary defence and 
support of our Government of our said Province . . . and the 
Protection and Preservation of the Inhabitants there according to 
such Acts as are or shall be in force within our said Province . . . 
[The governor to have a veto on elections and acts of the General 
Court] . . . ^nQ wee doe . . . Ordaine that the said Orders 
Laws Statutes and Ordinances be by the first opportunity after the 
makeing thereof sent or Transmitted unto us . . . for Our . . . 
approbation or Disallowance And that incase all or any of them 
shall at any time within the space of three yeares next after the 
same shall have been presented to us . . . in Our . . . Privy 
Councill be disallowed and rejected . . . then such ... of 
them as shall be soe disallowed . . . shall thenceforth cease 
and determine sind become utterly void and of none effect [Laws, 
&c., not disallowed within the three years, to remain in force 
until repealed by the General Court. Grants of land by the 
General Court, within the limits of the former colonies of Massa- 
chusetts Bay and New Plymouth, and the Province of Maine, 
excepting the region north and east of the Sagadahoc, to be 
valid without further royal approval. The governor shall direct 
the defense of the province, and may exercise martial law in case 
of necessity;] . . . ^robitJctJ alwayes . . . That the said Govern- 
our shall not at any time hereafter by vertue of any power hereby 
granted or hereafter to be granted to him Transport any of the 
Inhabitants of Our said Province ... or oblige them to march 
out of the Limitts of the same without their Free and voluntary 
consent or the Consent of the Great and Generall Court . . . 
nor grant Commissions for exercising the Law Martiall upon any 
the Inhabitants of Our said Province . . . without the Advice 
and Consent of the Councill or Assistants of the same . . . Pro- 
bitJtti alwaies . . . that nothing herein shall extend or be taken 
to . . . allow the Exercise of any Admirall Court Jurisdiction 
Power or Authority but that the same be and is hereby reserved 
to Us . . . and shall from time to time be . . . exercised by 
vertue of Commissions to be yssued under the Great Seale of 



90 NAVIGATION ACT [April 10/20 

England or under the Seale of the High Admirall or the Commis- 
sioners for executing the Office of High Admirall of England. . . . 
Hiiti lastlg for the better provideing and furnishing oi Masts for 
Our Royall Navy Wee doe hereby reserve to Us . . . all Trees 
of the Diameter of Twenty Four Inches and upwards of Twelve 
Inches from the ground growing upon any soyle or Tract of Land 
within Our said Province . . . not heretofore granted to any 
private persons And Wee doe restraine and forbid all persons 
whatsoever from felling cutting or destroying any such Trees 
without the Royall Lycence of Us ... first had and obteyned 
upon penalty of Forfeiting One Hundred Pounds sterling unto 
Ous [Us] ... for every such Tree so felled cutt or destroyed. . , . 



No. 25. Navigation Act 

April 10/20, 1696 

The Navigation Act of 1672, besides laying duties on certain "enumerated 
articles," had aimed to provide a more effective system of administration for 
the colonial customs service; but in the years immediately following the 
revolution of 1688, the acts of trade, never much regarded in the colonies, 
were extensively violated. In particular, the lack of a system of registry for 
English-built ships made the enforcement of the acts ditTicult, and led to 
complaints from British merchants of loss of revenue; and it was to supply 
this lack that the act of 1696 was especially designed. "All further shipping 
laws were in the nature of detailed regulations, and this act . . . may be said 
to have added the finishing touch to the colonial system so far as shipping 
was concerned" (Channing). 

References. — • Text in Statutes of the Realm, VH., 103-107. The act is 
cited as 7 and 8 Wm. III., c. 22. 

An Act for preventing Frauds and regulating Abuses in the 
Plantation Trade. 

[Recital that notwithstanding 12 Car. II., c. 18, 15 Car. II., 
c. 7, 22 & 23 Car. II., c. 26, and 25 Car. II., c. 7, great abuses 
are committed:] For Remedy thereof for the future bee itt en- 
acted . . . That after .... [March 25, i6g8,] . . . noe Goods 
or Merchandizes whatsoever shall bee imported into or exported 
out of any Colony or Plantation to His Majesty in Asia Africa or 



1696] NAVIGATION ACT 9I 

America belonging or in his Possession or which may hereafter 
belong unto or bee in the Possession of His Majesty ... or 
shall bee laden in or carried from any One Port or Place in the 
said Colonies or Plantations to any other Port or Place in the 
same, the Kingdome of England Dominion of Wales or Towne 
of Berwick upon Tweed in any Shipp or Bottome but what is 
or shall bee of the Built of England or of the Built of Ireland 
or the said Colonies or Plantations and wholly owned by the 
People thereof or any of them and navigated with the Masters 
and Three Fourths of the Mariners of the said Places onely (ex- 
cept such Shipps onely as are or shall bee taken Prize . . . And 
alsoe except for the space of Three Yeares such Foreigne built 
Shipps as shall bee employed by the Commissioners of His Maj- 
esties Navy for the tyme being or upon Contract with them in 
bringing onely J\Iasts Timber and other Navall Stores for the 
Kings Service from His ^Majesties Colonies or Plantations to this 
Kingdome to bee navigated as aforesaid and whereof the Property 
doth belong to English Men) under paine of Forfeiture of Shipp 
and Goods. ... 

V. And for the more effectuall preventing of Frauds and regu- 
lating Abuses in the Plantation Trade in America Bee itt further 
enacted . . . That all Shipps comeing into or goeing out of any 
of the said Plantations and ladeing or unladeing any Goods or 
Commodities whether the same bee His Majesties Shipps of Warr 
or Merchants Shipps and the Masters and Commanders thereof 
and their Ladings shall bee subject and lyable to the same Rules 
Msitations Searches Penalties and Forfeitures as to the entring 
lading or dischargeing theire respective Shipps and Ladings as 
Shipps and their Ladings and the Commanders and Masters of 
Shipps are subject and lyable unto in this Kingdome . . . [by 
virtue of the act 14 Chas. II., ch. 11]. . . . And that the Officers 
for collecting and manageing His Majesties Revenue and inspect- 
ing the Plantation Trade in any of the said Plantations shall have 
the same Powers and Authorities for visiting and searching of 
Shipps and takeing their Entries and for seizing and securing or 
bringing on Shoare any of the Goods prohibited to bee imported 
or exported into or out of any the said Plantations or for which 
any Duties are payable or ought to have beene paid by any of the 



92 NAVIGATION ACT [April 10/20 

before mentioned Acts as are pronded for the Officers of the 
Customes in England by the s;\id last mentioned Act . . . [of 14 
Chas. II., ch. II.] . . . and als<.>e to enter Houses or Warehouses 
to search for and seize any such Goods. . . . 

******** 

X\'. [(And') bee itt further enacted . . . That all Persons 
and theire Assignees claymeing any Right or (Pix^pertv -) in anv 
Islands or Tracts of L;\nd upc»n the Continent of America by 
Charier or Letters Patents shall not att any tyme hereafter alien 
sell or dispose of any of the said Islands Tracts of Land or 
Proprieties other than to the XatuntU Borne Subjects of 
England Ireland Dominion of Wales or Towne of Berwick 
up<.in Tweed without the License and Consent of His Majesty 
. . . signifyed by His or Their Order in Councill first had and 
obteyned. . . .] 

X\T. [And for a more effectuall prevention of Frauds which 
may bee used to elude the Intention of this Act by colouring 
Foreigne Shipps under English Xames Bee itt further enacted 
. . . That from and after . . . [March 25, i6q8,] . . . noe Shipp 
or Vessell whatsoever shall bee deemed or passe as a Shipp of the 
Built of England Ireland Wales Berwick Guernsey Jersey or of 
any of His Majesties Plantations in America soe as to bee quali- 
fyed to trade to from or in any of the said Plantations untill the 
Person or Persons claymeing Property in such Shipp or \"essell 
shall register the same as followeth (that is to sciy") If the Shipp 
att the tyme of such Register doth belong to any Port in Eng- 
land Ireland \A'ales or to the Towne of Berwick upon Tweed 
then Proofe shall bee made upon Oath of One or more of the 
Owners of such Shipp or \'essell before the Collector and Comp- 
tn">ller of His Majesties Customes in such Port or if ait the tyme 
of such Register the Shipp belong to any of His Majesties Planta- 
tions in America or to the Islands of Guernsey or Jersey then the 
like Pnx^fe to bee made before the Governour together with the 
Principall Officer of His Majesties Revenue resideing on such 
Plantation or Island . . .] ^ . . . 

******** 



» Omitted in the Ms. ' The M?. has Prefwifty. 

• The passage in brackets is annexed to the original act in a separate schedule. 



i(xjO] TREATY OF UTRECHT 93 

No. 26. Treaty of Utrecht 

March 31/April 11, 1713 

By the second partition treaty between WiUiam III. and Louis XIV., in 
T 700, it had been agreed that the Spanish succession, on the death of Charles 
II., should go to the .\rchduke Charles, son of the Emperor Leopold. But 
Charles II. by will bequeathed all his possessions to Philip, Duke of .\njou, 
grandson of Louis, though with the proviso that the crowns of France and 
Spain should never be united; and, on the death of Charles, Louis claimed 
the inheritance for Philip. The seizure of the barrier fortresses, earlv in 1701, 
was soon followed by war in Italy between Leopold and the combined French 
and Spanish forces. William placed Marlborough in con^mand of the Eng- 
lish forces in the Netherlands, and in September formed, with Austria and the 
Dutch Republic, the so-called Grand .\lliance. The death of William, in 
March, 1702, did not interrupt the war, and the Grand .\lliancc was shortly 
joined by most of the German princes. The European phases of the war of 
the Spanish Succession, and the careers of Marlborough and Prince Eugene 
of Savoy, do not call for discussion here. In America, where the war is 
known as Queen Anne's war, the most important movements were in connec- 
tion with the repeated attempts to conquer some part of the French pos- 
sessions. .\ftcr two unsuccessful expeditions, in 1704 and 1707, against 
Acadia, Port Royal fmally surrendered, in 17 10, to the English; but a com- 
bined land and naval demonstration against Canada came to nothing. In 
September, 171 1, preliminary articles of peace were signed; the conferences 
of the commissioners began in January, 171 2, at Utrecht; and March 31/ 
.\pril I r, 1713, the treaty was concluded. Only the principal articles relating 
to America arc given here. 

Referkncf.s. — Text in Chalmers's Collectwn of Treaties, I.. 340-386. 
Mahon's History of England [during the] Reign of Anne covers the period 
of the war; see also Lecky's England in the Eighteenth Century (.\nier. ed.), 
I., 26-54, 106-158; 'Pa.rkma.n's Half Century of Conjiict. 

X. The said most Christian King shall restore to the kingdom 
and Queen of Great Britain, to be possessed in full right for 
ever, the bay and streights of Hudson, together with all lands, 
seas, sea-coasts, rivers, and places situate in the said bay and 
streights, and which belong thereunto, no tracts of land or of 
sea being excepted, which are at present possessed by the sub- 
jects of France. . . . But it is agreed on both" sides, to deter- 
mine within a year, by commissaries to be forthwith named by 
each party, the limits which are to be fixed between the said Bay 
of Hudson and the places appertaining to the French. . . . The 



94 TREATY OF UTRECHT [March 31/April ii 

same commissaries shall also have orders to describe and settle, 
in like manner, the boundaries between the other British and 
French colonies in those parts. 

XL The abovementioned most Christian King shall take care 
that satisfaction be given, according to the rule of justice and 
equity, to the English company trading to the Bay of Hudson, 
for all damages and spoil done to their colonies, ships, persons, 
and goods, by the hostile incursions and depredations of the 
French, in time of peace . . . 

XII. The most Christian King shall take care to have delivered 
to the Queen of Great Britain, on the same day that the ratifica- 
tions of this treaty shall be exchanged, solemn and authentic 
letters, or instruments, by virtue whereof it shall appear, that the 
island of St. Christopher's is to be possessed alone hereafter by 
British subjects, likewise all Nova Scotia or Acadie, with its 
ancient boundaries, as also the city of Port Royal, now "called 
Annapolis Royal, and all other things in those parts, which de- 
pend on the said lands and islands . . . ; and that in such ample 
manner and form, that the subjects of the most Christian King 
shall hereafter be excluded from all kind of fishing in the said 
seas, bays, and other places, on the coasts of Nova Scotia, that is 
to say, on those which lie towards the east, within 30 leagues, 
beginning from the island commonly called Sable, inclusively, and 
thence stretching along towards the south-west. 

XIII. The island called Newfoundland, with the adjacent 
islands, shall from this time forward belong of right wholly to 
Britain; and to that end the town and fortress of Placentia, and 
whatever other places in the said island are in the possession of 
the French, shall be yielded and given up, within seven months 
from the exchange of the ratifications of this treaty, or sooner, 
if possible, by the most Christian King, to those who have a 
commission from the Queen of Great Britain for that purpose. 
. . . Moreover, it shall not be lawful for the subjects of France to 
fortify any place in the said island of Newfoundland, or to erect 
any buildings there, besides stages made of boards, and huts 
necessary and usual for drying of fish; or to resort to the said 
island, beyond the time necessary for fishing, and drying of 
fish. But it shall be allowed to the subjects of France to catch 
fish, and to dry them on land, in that part only, and in no other 



1 71 3] CHARTER OF GEORGIA 95 

besides that, of the said island of Newfoundland, which stretches 
from the place called Cape Bonavista to the northern point of 
the said island, and from thence running down by the western 
side, reaches as far as the place called Point Riche. But the 
island called Cape Breton, as also all others, both in the mouth 
of the river of St. Lawrence, and in the gulph of the same name, 
shall hereafter belong of right to the French, and the most Chris- 
tian King shall have all manner of liberty to fortify any place or 
places there. 

XIV. It is expressly provided, that in all the said places and 
colonies to be yielded and restored by the most Christian King, 
in pursuance of this treaty, the subjects of the said King may 
have liberty to remove themselves, within a year, to any other 
place, as they shall think fit, together with all their moveable 
effects. But those who are willing to remain there, and to be 
subject to the Kingdom of Great Britain, are to enjoy the free 
exercise of their religion, according to the usage of the church of 
Rome, as far as the laws of Great Britain do allow the same. 



No. 27. Charter of Georgia 

June 9/20, 1732 

The plan for a colon}' in Georgia originated with James Edward Ogle- 
thorpe, an English gentleman of good family, who had served with distinc- 
tion under Prince Eugene of Savoy, and later had entered the House of Com- 
mons. Oglethorpe's sympathies having been enlisted on behalf of imprisoned 
debtors and discharged prisoners, he conceived the idea of establishing in 
America a colony where worthy persons of those classes could get a new start 
in life. The charter granted to trustees certain territory south of the Savan- 
nah river which had originally formed part of South Carolina, but had been 
retained by the Crown when the Carolinas were surrendered by the pro- 
prietors in 1729. To this was added the one-eighth interest retained by 
Carteret at the time of the surrender, and which he now conveyed to the trus- 
tees. The charter was surrendered in 1752, and Georgia became a royal 
province. 

References. — Text in Poore's Federal and State Constitutions, I., 369- 
377. The Journal of the trustees has been privately printed (18S6). The 
Colonial Records of Georgia, I., cover the charter period. Various contem- 
porary accounts are reprinted in the Collections of the Georgia Hist. Society, 



96 CHARTER OF GEORGIA [June 9/20 

and in Force's Tracts, I. See also early documents in Charles Lee's Report 
on Claims to Lands in the Southwestern Parts of the United States, in Amer. 
State Papers, Public Lands, I., 34-67. 



GEORGE the second, [ &c] . . . 

Whereas we are credibly informed, that many of our poor sub- 
jects are, through misfortunes and want of employment, reduced 
to great necessity, insomuch as by their labor they are not able to 
provide a maintenance for themselves and families; and if they 
had means to defray their charges of passage, and other expences, 
incident to new settlements, they would be glad to settle in any 
of our provinces in America where by cultivating the lands, at 
present waste and desolate, they might not only gain a comfort- 
able subsistence for themselves and families, but also strengthen 
our colonies and increase the trade, navigation and wealth of 
these our realms. And whereas our provinces in North America, 
have been frequently ravaged by Indian enemies; more espe- 
cially that of South-Carolina, which in the late war, by the 
neighboring savages, was laid waste by fare and sword, and great 
numbers of English inhabitants, miserably massacred, and our 
loving subjects who now inhabit them, by reason of the smallness 
of their numbers, will in case of a new war, be exposed to the 
late [like?] calamities; inasmuch as their whole southern frontier 
continueth unsettled, and lieth open to the said savages - — ... 
Know ye therefore, that we ... by these presents . . . do . . . 
ordain . . . that our right trusty and well beloved John, lord- 
viscount Purcival, of our kingdom of Ireland, our trusty and 
well beloved Edward Digby, George Carpenter, James Ogle- 
thorpe, George Heathcote, Thomas Tower, Robert Moore, 
Robert Hucks, Roger Holland, William Sloper, Francis Eyles, 
John Laroche, James Vernon, William Beletha, esquires, A. M. 
John Burton, B. D. Richard Bundy, A. M. Arthur Bedford, 
A. M. Samuel Smith, A. M. Adam Anderson and Thomas Corane, 
gentleman ; and such other persons as shall be elected in the man- 
ner herein after mentioned, and their successors to be elected in 
the manner herein after directed; be, and shall be one body 
politic and corporate, in deed and in name, by the name of the 
Trustees for establishing the colony of Georgia in America; 
. . , and that they and their successors by that name shall and 



1732] CHARTER OF GEORGIA 97 

may forever hereafter, be persons able and capable in the law, 
to purchase, have, take, receive and enjoy, to them and their 
successors, any manors, messuages, lands, tenements, rents, ad- 
vowsons, liberties, privileges, jurisdictions, franchises, and other 
hereditaments whatsoever, lying and being in Great Britain, or 
any part thereof, of whatsoever nature, kind or quality, or value 
they be, in fee and in perpetuity, not exceeding the yearly value 
of one thousand pounds, beyond reprises; also estates for lives, 
and for years, and all other manner of goods, chattels and things 
whatsoever they be; for the better settling and supporting, and 
maintaining the said colony, and other uses aforesaid; and to 
give, grant, let and demise the said manors, messuages, lands, 
tenements, hereditaments, goods, chattels and things whatsoever 
aforesaid, by lease or leases, for term of years, in possession at 
the time of granting thereof, and not in reversion, not exceeding 
the term of thirty -one years, from the time of granting thereof; 
. . . and that they ... by the name aforesaid, shall and may 
forever hereafter, be persons able, capable in the law, to pur- 
chase, have, take, receive, and enjoy, to them and their succes- 
sors, any lands, territories, possessions, tenements, jurisdictions, 
franchises and hereditaments whatsoever, lying and being in 
America, of what quantity, quality or value whatsoever they be, 
for the better settling and supporting and maintaining the said 
colony; . . . And our will and pleasure is, that the first presi- 
dent of the said corporation . . . shall be . . . the said Lord 
John Viscount Percival; and that the said president shall, within 
thirty days after the passing this charter, cause a summons to be 
issued to the several members of the said corporation herein 
particularly named, to meet at such time and place as he shall 
appoint, to consult about and transact the business of said cor- 
poration. And . . . we . . . direct, that the common council of 
this corporation shall consist of fifteen in number; and we do 
. . . appoint . . . John Lord Viscount Percival, . . . Edward 
Digby, George Carpenter, James Oglethorpe, George Heathcote, 
Thomas Laroche, James Vernon, William Beletha, esqrs., and 
Stephen Hales, Master of Arts, to be the common council of the 
said corporation, to continue in the said office during their good 
behavior. And whereas it is our royal intention, that the mem- 
bers of the said corporation should be increased by election, as 



98 CHARTER OF GEORGIA [June 9/20 

soon as conveniently may be, to a greater number than is hereby 
nominated; ... we do hereby . . . direct, that from the time of 
such increase of the members of the said corporation, the number 
of the common council shall be increased to twenty-four; and that 
the same assembly at which such additional members of the said 
corporation shall be chosen, there shall likewise be elected in the 
manner hereinbefore directed for the election of common council 
men, nine persons to be the said common council men, and to 
make up the number twenty-four. And our further will and 
pleasure is, that . . . Edward Digby, esquire, shall be the first 
chairman of the common council of the said corporation; and 
that the said lord-viscount Purcival shall be, and continue, presi- 
dent of the said corporation, and that the said Edward Digby 
shall be and continue chairman of the common council of the 
said corporation, respectively, until the meeting which shall be 
had next and immediately after the first meeting of the said cor- 
poration, or of the common council of the said corporation re- 
spectively, and no longer; . . . And we do hereby . . . direct, 
that the said corporation every year lay an account in writing 
before the chancellor, or speaker, or commissioners, for the 
custody of the great seal of Great-Britain . . . ; the Chief Jus- 
tice of the Court of Kings' Bench, the Master of Rolls the Chief 
Justice of the Court of Common Pleas, and the chief Baron 
of the Exchequer . . . , or any two of them; of all moneys and 
effects by them received or expended, for carrying on the good 
purposes aforesaid. And we do hereby . . . give and grant unto 
the said corporation, and their successors, full power and au- 
thority to constitute, ordain and make, such and so many by- 
laws, constitutions, orders and ordinances, as to them ... at 
their general meeting for that purpose, shall seem necessary and 
convenient for the well ordaining and governing of the said cor- 
poration; . . , and in and by such by-laws, rules, orders and 
ordinances, to sell, impose and inflict, reasonable pains and penal- 
ties upon any offender or offenders, who shall trangress, break or 
violate the said by-laws, constitutions, orders and ordinances; . . . 
so always, as the said by-laws, constitutions, orders, and ordi- 
nances, pains and penalties . . . , be reasonable and not con- 
trary or repugnant to the laws or statutes of this our realm ; and 
that such by-laws, constitutions and ordinances, pains and penal- 



1732] CHARTER OF GEORGIA gg 

ties . . . , and any repeal or alteration thereof, or any of them, 
may be likewise agreed to be established and confirmed by the 
said general meeting of the said corporation, to be Jield and kept 
next after the same shall be respectively made. And whereas the 
said corporation intend to settle a colony, and to make an habita- 
tion and plantation in that part of our province of South-Carolina, 
in America, herein after described — Know ye, that we . . . 
do give and grant to the said corporation and their successors 
under the reservation, limitation and declaration, hereafter ex- 
pressed, seven undivided parts, the whole in eight equal parts 
to be divided, of all those lands, countrys and territories, situate, 
lying and being in that part of South-Carolina, in America, 
which lies from the most northern part of a stream or river 
there, commonly called the Savannah, all along the sea coast to 
the southward, unto the most southern stream of a certain other 
great water or river called the Alatamaha, and westterly from the 
heads of the said rivers respectively, in direct lines to the south 
seas; and all that share, circuit and precinct of land, within the 
said boundaries, with the islands on the sea, lying opposite to 
the eastern coast of the said lands, within twenty leagues of the 
same, which are not inhabited already, or settled by any authority 
derived from the crown of Great-Britain : ... to be holden of 
us, our heirs and successors as of our honour of Hampton-court, 
in our county of Middlesex in free and common soccage, and not 
in capite, yielding, and paying therefor to us . . . yearly forever, 
the sum of four shillings for every hundred acres of the said 
lands, which the said corporation shall grant, demise, plant or 
settle; the said payment not to commence or to be made, until 
ten years after such grant, demise, planting or settling; and to 
be answered and paid ... in such manner and in such species 
of money or notes, as shall be current in payment, by proclama- 
tion from time to time, in our said province of South-Carolina. 
All which lands, countries, territories and premises ... we do 
by these presents, make, erect and create one independent and 
separate province, by the name of Georgia. . . . And that all and 
every person or persons, who shall at any time hereafter inhabit or 

(reside within our said province, shall be, and are hereby declared 
to be free, and shall not be subject to or be bound to obey any laws, 
orders, statutes or constitutions, which have been heretofore made. 



lOO CHARTER OF GEORGIA [June 9/20 

ordered or enacted by, for, or as, the laws, orders, statutes or 
constitutions of our said province of South-Carolina, (save and 
except only the [commander] in chief of the militia, of our said 
province of Georgia, to our governor for the time being of South- 
Carolina, in manner hereafter declared;) but shall be subject to, 
and bound to obey, such laws, orders, statutes and constitutions as 
shall from time to time be made, ordered and enacted, for the 
better government of the said province of Georgia, in the manner 
hereinafter declared. And we do hereby . . . ordain . . . that 
for and during the term of twenty-one years, to commence from 
the date of these our letters patent, the said corporation assembled 
for that purpose, shall and may form and prepare, laws, statutes 
and ordinances, fit and necessary for and concerning the govern- 
ment of the said colony, and not repugnant to the laws and statutes 
of England ; and the same shall and may present under their com- 
mon seal to us . . . , in our or their privy council for our or their 
approbation or disallowance: and the said laws, statutes and ordi- 
nances, being approved of by us . . . , in our or their privy 
council, shall from thence forth be in full force and virtue within 
our said province of Georgia. . . . And for the greater ease and 
encouragement of our loving subjects and such others as shall 
come to inhabit in our said colony, we do . . . ordain, that for- 
ever hereafter, there shall be a liberty of conscience allowed in the 
worship of God, to all persons inhabiting, or which shall inhaljit 
or be resident within our said province, and that all such persons, 
|except papists, shall have a free exercise of religion, so they be con- 
tented with the quiet and peaceable enjoyment of the same, not 
giving otTence or scandal to the government. And our further 
will and pleasure is, and we do hereby . . . declare and grant, 
that it shall and may be lawful for the said common council . . . 
to distribute, convey, assign and set over such particular portions 
of lands, tenements and hereditaments by these presents granted 
to the said corporation, unto such our loving subjects, natural born, 
denizens or others that shall be willing to become our subjects, 
and live under our allegiance in the said colony, upon such terms, 
and for such estates, and upon such rents, reservations and condi- 
tions as the same may be lawfully granted, and as to the said 
common council . . . shall seem fit and proper. . . . Provided 
. . , that no greater quantity of lands be granted, either en- 



1732] CHARTER OF GEORGIA lOl 

tirely or in parcels, to or for the use, or in trust for any one per- 
son, than five hundred acres. . . . And we do hereby grant and 
ordain, that such person or persons, for the time being as shall be 
thereunto appointed by the said corporation, shall . . . have full 
power and authority to administer and give the oaths, appointed 
by an act of parliament, made in the first year of the reign of our 
late royal father, to be taken instead of the oaths of allegiance . 
and supremacy; and also the oath of abjuration, to all and 
every person and persons which shall at any time be inhabiting 
or residing with our said colony; and in like cases to administer 
the solemn affirmation to any of the persons commonly called 
quakers, in such manner as by the laws of our realm of Great- 
Britain, the same may be administered. And we do . . . ordain 
. . . that the said corporation and their successors, shall have full j 
power and authority, for and during the term of twenty-one years^ ' 
. . . , to erect and constitute judicatories and courts of record, v 
or other courts, to be held in the name of us . . . for the hear- 
ing and determining of all manner of crimes, offences, pleas, 
processes, plaints, actions, matters, causes and things whatsoever; 
arising or happening, within the said province of Georgia, or 
between persons of Georgia; whether the same be criminal or 
civil, and whether the said crimes be capital or not capital, and 
whether the said pleas be real, personal or mixed : and for award- 
ing and making out executions thereupon . . . And our further 
will and pleasure is, that the rents, issues and all other profits, 
which shall at any time hereafter come to the said corporation, 
[shall be applied in such manner as the said corporation,^] or the 
major part of them which shall be present at any meeting for 
that purpose assembled, shall think will most improve and en- 
large the said colony, and best answer the good purposes herein 
before mentioned, and for defraying all other charges about the 
same. And our will and pleasure is, that the said corporation 
and their successors, shall from time to time give in to one of the 
principal secretaries of state, and to the commissioners of trade 
and plantations, accounts of the progresses of the said colony. 
. . . And our will and pleasure is, that the common council of 
the said corporation for the time being . . . shall . . . unto the 

' These words are not in the original, but appear to be necessary to complete 
the sense. 



I02 CHARTER OF GEORGIA [June 9/20 

full end and expiration of twenty-one years . . . , have full power 
and authority to nominate, make, constitute and commission, 
ordain and appoint, by such name or names, style or styles, as 
to them shall seem meet and fitting, all and singular such gov- 
ernors, judges, magistrates, ministers and oflficers, civil and mili- 
tary, both by sea and land, within the said districts, as shall by 
them be thought fit and needful to be made or used for the said 
government of the said colony; save always, and except such 
offices only as shall by us ... be from time to time constituted 
and appointed, for the managing collecting and receiving such 
revenues, as shall from time to time arise within the said province 
of Georgia, and become due to us . . . Pro\ided always . . . , 
that every governor of the said province of Georgia, to be ap- 
pointed by the common council of the said corporation, before 
he shall enter upon or execute the said office of governor, shall 
be approved by us ... , and shall take such oaths, and shall 
qualify himself in such manner, in all respects, as any governor 
or commander in chief of any of our colonies or plantations in 
America, are by law required to do; and shall give good and 
sufficient security for observing the several acts of parliament 
relating to trade and navigation, and to observe and obey all in- 
structions that shall be sent to him by us ... , or any acting under 
our or their authority, pursuant to the said acts, or any of them. 
TThe corporation may establish and train a militia, fortify and 
/defend the colony, exercise martial law in time of war, &c.] 
And . . . we do . . . grant, that the governor and commander 
in chief of the province of South-Carolina ... for the time 
being, shall at all times hereafter have the chief command of 
the militia of our said province . . . And ... we ... do give 
and grant, unto the said corporation and their successors, full 
power and authority to import and export their goods, at and 
from any port or ports that shall be appointed by us . . . within 
the said province of Georgia, for that purpose, without being 
obliged to touch at any other port in South-Carolina. And we 
do . . . will and declare, that from and after the termination of 
the said term or [of] twenty-one years, such form of government 
and method of making laws, statutes and ordinances, for the 
better governing and ordering the said province of Georgia, and 
the inhabitants thereof, shall be established and observed within 



1732] MOLASSES ACT 103 

the same, as we . . . shall hereafter ordain and appoint, and 
shall be agreeably to law; and that from and after the determina- 
tion of the said term of twenty-one years, the governor of our 
said province of Georgia, and all officers civil and military, within 
the same, shall from time to time be nominated and constituted, 
and appointed by us . . . 



No. 28. Molasses Act 

May 17/28, 1733 

In the exchange of fish, lumber and agricultural products for the sugar, 
molasses and rum of the West Indies, the northern English colonies in 
America early found their most important and most lucrative trade. More- 
over, it was by means of this trade that the money for the purchase of manu- 
factured goods in England was mainly obtained. The adoption of a more 
liberal commercial policy by France, however, in 1717, enabled the sugar of 
the French West Indies to displace the British product in European markets, 
and to compete successfully in the markets of the English colonies; while the 
prohibition of the importation of rum into France, as a protection to the pro- 
duction of brandy, forced the producers of molasses in the French colonies to 
seek a market in New England and New York, where molasses, little pro- 
duced in the English West Indies, was much in demand. The prosperity of 
the French colonies led to numerous protests from planters in the British 
sugar islands, and in 1731 a bill to prohibit the importation into Great Britain 
or the American colonies of any foreign sugar, molasses or rum passed the 
House of Commons, but was rejected by the Lords. The object of the bill 
was attained, however, by the passage, in 1733, of the so-called Molasses 
Act, by which practically prohibitory duties were imposed upon the before- 
mentioned articles. The act was systematically disregarded by the English 
colonies, and remained largely a dead-letter. The Molasses Act was to con- 
tinue in force for five years; but it was five times renewed, and by the Sugar 
Act of 1764 was made perpetual. 

References. — Text in Pickering's Statutes at Large, XVI., 374-379. 
The act is cited as 6 Geo. II., c. 13. The best discussion of the act is in 
Beer's Commercial Policy of England (Columbia Univ. Studies, III., No. 2), 
chap. 6. 

An act for the better securing and encouraging the trade of his 
Majesty's sugar colonies in America. 

WHEREAS the welfare and prosperity of your Majesty's sugar 
colonies in America are of the greatest consequence and importance 
to the trade, navigation and strength of this kingdom: and whereas 



104 MOLASSES ACT [May 17/28 

the planters of the said sugar colonies have of late years fallen under 
such great discouragements, that they are unable to improve or 
carry on the sugar trade upon an equal footing with the foreign 
sugar colonies, without some advantage and relief be given to them 
from Great Britain : for remedy whereof ... be it enacted . . . , 
That from and after . . . [December 25, 1733,] . . . there shall 
be raised, levied, collected and paid, unto and for the use of his 
Majesty . . . , upon all rum or spirits of the produce or manu- 
facture of any of the colonies or plantations in America, not in 
the possession or under the dominion of his Majesty . . . , which 
at any time or times within or during the continuance of this act, 
shall be imported or brought into any of the colonies or plantations 
in America, which now are or hereafter may be in the possession or 
under the dominion of his Majesty . . . , the sum of nine pence, 
money of Great Britain, ... for every gallon thereof, and after 
that rate for any greater or lesser quantity: and upon all molasses 
or syrups of such foreign produce or manufacture as aforesaid, 
which shall be imported or brought into any of the said colonies 
or plantations . . . , the sum of six pence of like money for every 
gallon thereof . . . ; and upon all sugars and paneles of such 
foreign growth, produce or manufacture as aforesaid, which shall 
be imported into any of the said colonies or plantations . . . , 
a duty after the rate of five shillings of like money, for every 
hundred weight Avoirdu poize. . . . 

IV. And be it further enacted . . . , That from and after . . . 
[December 25, 1733,] . . . no sugars, paneles, syrups or molasses, 
of the growth, product and manufacture of any of the colonies 
or plantations in America, nor any rum or spirits of America, 
except of the growth or manufacture of his Majesty's sugar colo- 
nies there, shall be imported by any person or persons whatsoever 
into the kingdom of Ireland, but such only as shall be fairly and 
bona fide loaden and shipped in Great Britain in ships navigated 
according to the several laws now in being in that behalf, under 
the penalty of forfeiting all such sugar, paneles, syrups or mo- 
lasses, rum or spirits, or the value thereof, together with the ship 
or vessel in which the same shall be imported, with all her guns, 
tackle, furniture, ammunition, and apparel. . . . 



1762] WRIT OF ASSISTANCE 105 

IX. And it is hereby further enacted . . . , That in case any 
sugar or paneles of the growth, produce or manufacture of any of 
the colonies or plantations belonging to or in the possession of 
his Majesty . . . , which shall have been imported into Great 
Britain after . . . [June 24, 1733,] . • • shall at any time within 
one year after the importation thereof, be again exported out of 
Great Britain, ... all the residue and remainder of the subsidy 
or duty, by any former act or acts of parliament granted and 
charged on such sugar or paneles as aforesaid, shall without any 
delay or reward be repaid to such merchant or merchants, who do 
export the same, within one month after demand thereof. 

X. And it is hereby further enacted . . . , That from and 
after . . . [June 24, 1733,] . . . for every hundred weight of sugar 
refined in Great Britain . . . , which shall be exported out of this 
kingdom, there shall be, by virtue of this act, repaid at the custom- 
house to the exporter, within one month after the demand thereof, 
over and above the several sums of three shillings and one shilling 
per hundred, payable by two former acts of parliament, one of them 
made in the ninth and tenth years of the reign of his late 
Majesty King William the Third, and the other in the second 
and third years of the reign of her late Majesty Queen Anne, the 
further sum of two shillings, oath or solemn affirmation as afore- 
said, being first made by the refiner, that the said sugar so 
exported, was produced from brown and muscovado sugar, and 
that as he verily believes, the same was imported from some of 
the colonies or plantations in America belonging to and in the 
possession of the crown of Great Britain, and that as he verily 
believes the duty of the said brown and muscovado sugar was 
duly paid at the time of the importation thereof, and that the 
same was duly exported. . , . 



No. 29. Writ of Assistance 

December 2, 1762 

In 1755 a writ of ass'stance, granting authority to search for and seize 
uncustomed goods, was issued by the Superior Court of Massachusetts to 
Charles Paxton, surveyor of the port of Boston. Similar writs were issued in 
1758 to the collectors at Salem and Falmouth, in 1759 to the surveyor-general, 



Io6 WRIT OF ASSISTANCE [December i 

and the collectors at Boston and Newburyport, and in 1760 to the collectors 
at Boston and Salem. By law the writs continued until the demise of the 
Crown and for six months thereafter. In 1761 the former writs, by reason of 
the death of George II., being about to expire, the surveyor-general, Thomas 
Lechmere, made application to the court for the grant of such writs to him- 
self and his officers "as usual." On this application a number of merchants 
of Boston, and others, petitioned to be heard. The application was argued 
at Boston at the February term, Jeremiah Gridley appearing for Lechmere, 
and James Otis and Oxenbridge Thacher for the petitioners and against the 
writ. Judgment was suspended in order that the court might examine the 
practice in England. November 18, at the second term, the case was again 
argued by the same counsel, with the addition of Robert Auchmuty in favor 
of the writ. The judges were unanimous in their opinion that the writ should 
be granted, as prayed for, and December 2 a writ was issued to Paxton in 
the form following. March 6, 1762, a bill "authorizing any judge or justice 
of the peace, upon information on oath by any officer of the customs, to issue 
a special writ or warrant of assistance, and prohibiting all others," passed the 
General Court ; but the governor, on the advice of the members of the Supe- 
rior Court, withheld his approval. Writs of assistance do not appear to have 
been granted elsewhere in the colonies, except in New Hampshire; they 
were, however, legalized by the Townshend Revenue Act of 1767 [No. 38]. 
General warrants were condemned in England in 1766, but general writs of 
assistance continued to be issued until 18 19, when an order of the Board of 
Customs practically abolished them. 

In the manuscript from which the writ following is printed, the words in 
brackets are interlined, and those in italics erased. The writ was drawn by 
Thomas Hutchinson, the chief justice. 

References. — Text in Quincy's Massachusetts Reports, 418-421, where 
is also, pp. 395-540, an exhaustive examination of the whole subject by Jus- 
tice Horace Gray. Otis's argument at the February term, as reported by 
John Adams, is in the latter's Works, II., 521-525; the second argument, in 
November, is in Quincy, ut supra, 51-57. The earlier accounts, especially 
those in Adams's Works, II., 124, note; X., 246-249, 274-276; Tudor's Otis, 
and Minot's Massachusetts, must be read in the light of Gray's notes, above. 



Prov. of 



George the third by the grace of God of 
^ T. f Great Britain France & Ireland King 

Mass. iia)^ I j^pfg^^^j. ,,f the faith &c'. 

To MA. & singular our Justices of the peace 
Sheriffs Constables and to all other our 
Officers and Subjects within our said 
Province and to each of vou Greeting. 



[ SEAL I 

Know ye that whereas in and by an Act of Parliament made 
in the //z /r[f our] teen th year of [the reign of] the late King 



1762], WRIT OF ASSISTANCE 107 

Charles the second it is declared to be [the Officers of our Customs 
& their Deputies are authorized and impowered to go & enter 
aboard any Ship or Vessel outward or inward bound for the pur- 
poses in the said Act mentioned and it is also in & by the said 
Act further enacted & declared that it shall be] lawful [to or] for 
any person or persons authorized by Writ of assistants under the 
seal of our Court of Exchequer to take a Constable Headborough 
or other publick Officer inhabiting near unto the place and in the 
day time to enter & go into any House Shop Cellar Warehouse or 
Room or other place and in case of resistance to break open 
doors chests trunks & other package there to seize and from 
thence to bring any kind of goods or merchandize whatsoever 
prohibited & uncustomed and to put and secure the same in his 
Majestys [our] Storehouse in the port next to the place where 
such seizure shall be made. 

And whereas in & by an Act of Parliament made in the seventh 
& eighth year of [the reign of the late] King William the third 
there is granted to the Officers for collecting and managing our 
revenue and inspecting the plantation trade in any of our planta- 
tions [the same powers & authority for visiting & searching of 
Ships & also] to enter houses or warehouses to search for and 
seize any prohibited or uncustomed goods as are provided for 
the Officers of our Customs in England by the said last men- 
tioned Act made in the fourteenth year of [the reign of] King 
Charles the Second, and the like assistance is required to be 
given to the said Officers in the execution of their office as by 
the said last mentioned Act is provided for the Officers in 
England. 

And whereas in and by an Act of our said Province of Massa- 
chusetts bay made in the eleventh year of [the reign of] the late 
King William the third it is enacted & declared that our Superior 
Court of Judicature Court of Assize and General Goal delivery 
for our said Province shall have cognizance of all matters and 
things within our said Province as fully & amply to all intents 
& purposes as our Courts of King's Bench Common Pleas & 
Exchequer within our Kingdom of England have or ought to 
have. 

And whereas our Commissioners for managing and causing 
to be levied & collected our customs subsidies and other duties 



I08 WRIT OF ASSISTANCE [December 2 

have [by Commission or Deputation under their hands & seal 
dated at London the 22"^ day of May in the first year of our 
Reign] deputed and impowered Charles Paxton Esquire to be 
Surveyor & Searcher of all the rates and duties arising and grow- 
ing due to us at Boston in our Province aforesaid and [in & by 
said Commission or Deputation] have given him power to enter 
into [any Ship Bottom Boat or other Vessel & also into] any 
Shop House Warehouse Hostery or other place whatsoever to 
make diligent search into any trunk chest pack case truss or any 
other parcell or package whatsoever for any goods wares or 
merchandize prohibited to be imported or exported or whereof 
the Customs or other Duties have not been duly paid and the 
same to seize to our use In all things proceeding as the Law 
directs. 

Therefore we strictly Injoin & Command you & every one of 
you that, all excuses apart, you & every one of you permit the 
said Charles Paxton according to the true intent & form of the 
said commission or deputation and the laws & statutes in that 
behalf made & provided, [as well by night as by day from time 
to time to enter & go on board any Ship Boat or other Vessel 
riding lying or being within or coming to the said port of Boston 
or any Places or Creeks thereunto appertaining such Ship Boat 
or Vessel then & there found to search & o\-ersee and the persons 
therein being strictly to -examine touching the premises aforesaid 
& also according to the form effect and true intent of the said com- 
mission or deputation] in the day time to enter & go into the 
vaults cellars warehouses shops & other places where any pro- 
hibited goods wares or merchandizes or any goods wares or 
merchandizes for which the customs or other duties shall not 
have been duly & truly satisfied and paid lye concealed or are 
suspected to be concealed, according to the true intent of the 
law to inspect & oversee & search for the said goods wares & 
merchandize, And further to do and execute all things which 
of right and according to the laws & statutes in this behalf shall 
be to be done. And we further strictly Injoin & Command you 
and every one of you that to the said Charles Paxton Esqr you 
& every one of you from time to time be aiding assisting & 
helping in the execution of the premises as is meet. And this 
you or any of [you] in no wise omit at your perils. Witness 



1762] TREATY OF PARIS 109 

Thomas Hutchinson Esq at Boston the day of December in 

the Second year of our Reign Annoque Dom 1761 

By order of Court 
N. H.^ Cler. 



No. 30. Treaty of Paris 

February 10, 1763 

The Ohio and Mississippi valleys, claimed by the French in right of ex- 
ploration and colonization, were also claimed by the English under early 
colonial grants and charters; and these conflicting claims the boundary com- 
missioners, appointed under the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, had been unable 
to reconcile. The Seven Years' war, known in America as the French and 
Indian war, began two years before the declaration of war by England against 
France formally opened hostilities in Europe. Washington's unsuccessful 
expedition against Fort Duquesne, in 1754, was followed in 1755 by the de- 
feat of Braddock and the failure of the contemplated attack upon Canada; 
but some French forts in Nova Scotia were taken and the Acadians deported. 
The campaigns of 1756 and 1757 were also without substantial results for the 
English. The energy of Pitt, whom Newcastle was obliged, in June, 1757, to 
receive into the ministry- as secretary of state, turned the tide. In 1758, 
Louisburg, Niagara and Fort Duquesne were taken; in September, 1759, 
Quebec fell; and with the surrender of Montreal, in 1760, the French power 
in America came to an end. The war in Europe went on for three years 
longer. In June, 1761, at the instance of France, negotiations for peace were 
opened; but the signature of the "family compact" between France and 
Spain, in August, caused them to be broken off. Pitt urged immediate war 
with Spain; but his views were not supported by the ministry, and he re- 
signed. War against Spain was, however, declared in 1762, and English 
forces took Havana and Manila. In September, negotiations were resumed; 
on November 3, preliminaries of peace were signed at Fontainebleau ; and 
on February 10, 1763, the treaty was concluded at Paris. The chief articles 
relating to America are given in the extracts following. In compensation for 
the loss of Florida, Spain received from France so much of Louisiana as lay 
west of the Mississippi river, including both sides of the river at its mouth. 

References. — Text in Chalmers's Collection of Treaties, I., 467-483. 

IV. His most Christian Majesty renounces all pretensions, 
which he has heretofore formed, or might form, to Nova Scotia 
or Acadia, in all its parts, and guaranties the whole of it, and 
with all its dependencies, to the King of Great Britain: more- 

* Nathaniel Hatch, one of the clerks of court. — Ed. 



no TREATY OF PARIS [February la 

over, his most Christian Majesty cedes and guaranties to his said 
Britannic Majesty, in full right, Canada, with all its dependen- 
cies, as well as the Island of Cape Breton, and all the other 
islands and coasts in the gulph and river St. Laurence, and, in 
general, every thing that depends on the said countries, lands, 
islands, and coasts, with the sovereignty, property, possession, 
and all rights, acquired by treaty or otherwise, which the most 
Christian King, and the crown of France, have had till now over 
the said countries, islands, lands, places, coasts, and their inhabit- 
ants . . . His Britannic Majesty, on his side, agrees to grant 
the liberty of the Catholic religion to the inhabitants of Canada : 
he will consequently give the most precise and most effectual 
orders, that his new Roman Catholic subjects may profess the 
worship of their religion, according to the rites of the Romish 
church, as far as the laws of Great Britain permit. His Britan- 
nic Majesty further agrees, that the French inhabitants, or others 
who had been subjects of the most Christian King in Canada, 
may retire, with all safety and freedom, wherever they shall think 
proper, and may sell their estates, provided it be to subjects of 
his Britannic Majesty, and bring away their effects, as well as 
their persons, without being restrained in their emigration, under 
any pretence whatsoever, except that of debts, or of criminal pros- 
ecutions : the term limited for this emigration shall be fixed to 
the space of eighteen months, to be computed from the day of 
the exchange of the ratifications of the present treaty. 

V. The subjects of France shall have the liberty of fishing and 
drying, on a part of the coasts of the Island of Newfoundland, 
such as it is specified in the Xlllth article of the treaty of 
Utrecht; which article is renewed and confirmed by the present 
treaty (except what relates to the island of Cape Breton, as well 
as to the other islands and coasts in the mouth and in the gulph 
of St. Laurence:) and his Britannic INLijesty consents to leave 
to the subjects of the most Christian King the liberty of fishing 
in the gulph St. Laurence, on condition that the subjects of 
France do not exercise the said fishery but at the distance of 
three leagues from all the coasts belonging to Great Britain, as 
well those of the continent, as those of the islands situated in the 
said gulph of St. Laurence. And as to what relates to the fishery 
on the coasts of the island of Cape Breton out of the said gulph, 



1763] TREATY OF PARIS III 

the subjects of the most Christian King shall not be permitted 
to exercise the said fishery but at the distance of fifteen leagues 
from the coasts of the island of Cape Breton; and the fishery 
on the coasts of Nova Scotia or Acadia, and every where 
else out of the said gulph, shall remain on the foot of former 
treaties. 

VI. The King of Great Britain cedes the islands of St. Pierre 
and Miquelon, in full right, to his most Christian Majesty, to 
serve as a shelter to the French fishermen: and his said most 
Christian Majesty engages not to fortify the said islands; to 
erect no building upon them, but merely for the convenience of 
the fishery ; and to keep upon them a guard of fifty men only for 
the police. 

VII. ... it is agreed, that, for the future, the confines between 
the dominions of his Britannic Majesty, and those of his most 
Christian Majesty, in that part of the world, shall be fixed irrev- 
ocably by a line drawn along the middle of the river Mississippi, 
from its source to the river Iberville, and from thence, by a line 
drawn along the middle of this river, and the lakes Maurepas and 
Pontchartrain, to the sea; and for this purpose, the most Christian 
King cedes in full right, and guaranties to his Britannic Majesty, 
the river and port of the Mobile, and every thing which he possesses, 
or ought to possess, on the left side of the river Mississippi, except 
the town of New Orleans, and the island on which it is situated, 
which shall remain to France; provided that the navigation of 
the river Mississippi shall be equally free, as well to the subjects 
of Great Britain as to those of France, in its whole breadth and 
length, from its source to the sea, and expresly that part which 
is between the said island of New Orleans and the right bank of 
that river, as well as the passage both in and out of its mouth. 
It is further stipulated, that the vessels belonging to the subjects 
of either nation shall not be stopped, visited, or subjected to the 
payment of any duty whatsoever. The stipulations, inserted in 
the IVth article, in favour of the inhabitants of Canada, shall 
also take place with regard to the inhabitants of the countries 
ceded by this article. 

VIII. The King of Great Britain shall restore to France the 
islanrls of Guadeloupe, of Marie Galante, of Desirade, of Mar- 
tinico, and of Belleisle; and the fortresses of these islands shall 



112 TREATY OF PARIS [February i6 

be restored in the same condition they were in when they were 
conquered by the British arms . . . 

IX. The most Christian King cedes and guaranties to his 
Britannic Majesty, in full right, the islands of Grenada, and of 
the Grenadines, with the same stipulations in favour of the in- 
habitants of this colony, inserted in the IVth article for those of 
Canada : and the partition of the islands, called Neutral, is agreed 
and fixed, so that those of St. Vincent, Dominica, and Tobago, 
shall remain in full right to Great Britain, and that of St. Lucia 
shall be delivered to France. . . . 

XIX. The King of Great Britain shall restore to Spain all the 
territory, which he has conquered in the island of Cuba, with the 
fortress of the Havana, and this fortress, as well as all the other 
fortresses of the said island, shall be restored in the same con- 
dition they were in when conquered by his Britannic Majesty's 
arms . . . 

XX. In consequence of the restitution stipulated in the pre- 
ceding article, his Catholic Majesty cedes and guaranties, in full 
right, to his Britannic Majesty, Florida, with Fort St. Augustin, 
and the Bay of Pensacola, as well as all that Spain possesses on 
the continent of North America, to the east, or to the south-east, 
of the river Mississippi ; and, in general, every thing that depends 
on the said countries, and lands . . . His Britannic Majesty 
agrees, on his side, to grant to the inhabitants of the countries, 
above ceded, the liberty of the Catholic religion: he will conse- 
quently give the most express and the most effectual orders, that 
his new Roman Catholic subjects may profess the worship of their 
religion, according to the rites of the Romish church, as far as 
the laws of Great Britain permit: [the Spanish inhabitants to 
be permitted to remove, or to sell their estates, under conditions 
as in Art. IV.] It is moreover stipulated, that his Catholic 
Majesty shall have power to cause all the effects, that may 
belong to him, to be brought away, whether it be artillery or 

other things. 

******** 



1763] ROYAL PROCLAMATION CONCERNING AMERICA 113 

No. 31. Royal Proclamation concerning 
America 

October 7, 1763 

The principal objects of the royal proclamation of 1763 were, to provide 
for the government of the British possessions in America vi^hich had been 
acquired by the treaty of Paris; to define certain interior boundaries; and to 
regulate trade and intercourse with the Indians. 

References. — Text in the Annual Register (1763), 208-213. 

Whereas we have taken into our royal consideration the exten- 
sive and valuable acquisitions in America, secured to our crown 
by the late definitive treaty of peace concluded at Paris the loth 
day of February last; ... we have thought fit . . . hereby 
to publish and declare to all our loving subjects, that we have, 
with the advice of our said privy council, granted our letters 
patent under our great seal of Great Britain, to erect within the 
countries and islands, ceded and confirmed to us by the said 
treaty, four distinct and separate governments, stiled and called 
by the names of Quebec, East Florida, West Florida, and Gre- 
nada, and limited and bounded as follows, viz. 

First, the government of Quebec, bounded on the Labrador 
coast by the river St. John, and from thence by a line drawn 
from the head of that river, through the lake St. John, to the 
South end of the lake Nipissim; from whence the said line, 
crossing the river St. Lawrence and the lake Champlain in 45 
degrees of North latitude, passes along the High Lands, which 
divide the rivers that empty themselves into the said river St. 
Lawrence, from those which fall into the sea; and also along the 
North coast of the Bayes des Chaleurs, and the coast of the Gulph 
of St. Lawrence to Cape Rosieres, and from thence crossing the 
mouth of the river St. Lawrence by the West end of the island of 
Anticosti, terminates at the aforesaid river St. John. 

Secondly, The government of East Florida, bounded to the 
Westward by the Gulph of Mexico and the Apalachicola river; 
to the Northward, by a line drawn from that part of the said river 
where the Catahoochee and Flint rivers meet, to the source of SL 



114 ROYAL PROCLAMATION CONCERNING AMERICA [Oct. 7 

Mary's river, and by the course of the said river to the Atlantic 
Ocean; and to the East and South by the Atlantic Ocean, and the 
Gulph of Florida, including all islands within six leagues of the 
sea coast. 

Thirdly, The government of West Florida, bounded to the 
Southward by the Gulph of Mexico, including all islands within 
six leagues of the coast from the river Apalachicola to lake 
Pontchartrain ; to the Westward by the said lake, the lake Mau- 
repas, and the river Mississippi; to the Northward^ by a line 
drawn due East from that part of the river Mississippi which lies 
in thirty-one degrees North latitude, to the river Apalachicola, 
or Catahoochee; and to the Eastward by the said river. 

Fourthly, The government of Grenada, comprehending the 
island of that name, together with the Grenadines, and the 
islands of Dominico, St. Vincent, and Tobago. 

And to the end that the open and free fishery of our subjects 
may be extended to, and carried on upon the coast of Labrador 
and the adjacent islands, we have thought fit ... to put all that 
coast, from the river St. John's to Hudson's Streights, together 
with the islands of Anticosti and Madelane, and all other smaller 
islands lying upon the said coast, under the care and inspection 
of our governor of Newfoundland. 

We have also . . . thought fit to annex the islands of St. 
John and Cape Breton, or Isle Royale, with the lesser islands 
adjacent thereto, to our government of Nova Scotia. 

We have also . . . annexed to our province of Georgia, all the 
lands lying between the rivers Attamaha and St. Mary's. 

And ... we have . . . given express power and direction to 
our governors of our said colonies respectively, that so soon as 
the state and circumstances of the said colonies will admit thereof, 
they shall, with the advice and consent of the members oi our 
council, summon and call general assemblies within the said 
governments respectively, in such manner and form as is used 
and directed in those colonies and provinces in America, which 
are under our immediate government; and we have also given 
power to the said governors, with the consent of our said coun- 
cils, and the representatives of the people, so to be summoned as 
aforesaid, to make, constitute, and ordain laws, statutes, and ordi- 
nances for the public peace, welfare, and good government of our 



1763] ROYAL PROCLAMATION CONCERNING AMERICA 115 

said colonies, and of the people and inhabitants thereof, as near 
as may be, agreeable to the laws of England, and under such 
regulations and restrictions as are used in other colonies; and in 
the mean time, and until such assemblies can be called as afore- 
said, all persons inhabiting in, or resorting to, our said colonies, 
may confide in our royal protection for the enjoyment of the 
benefit of the laws of our realm of England : for which purpose 
we have given power under our great seal to the governors of our 
said colonies respectively, to erect and constitute, with the advice 
of our said councils respectively, courts of judicature and public 
justice within our said colonies, for the hearing and determining 
all causes as well criminal as civil, according to law and equity, 
and as near as may be, agreeable to the laws of England, with 
liberty to all persons who may think themselves aggrieved by the 
sentence of such courts, in all civil cases, to appeal, under the 
usual limitations and restrictions, to us, in our privy council. 

[Governors of the three new continental colonies may grant 
land therein.] 

And ... we do hereby command and impower our governors 
of our said three new colonies, and other our governors of our 
several provinces on the continent of North America, to grant, 
without fee or reward, to such reduced officers as have served in 
North America during the late war, and are actually residing 
there, and shall personally apply for the same, the following 
quantities of land, subject, at the expiration of ten years, to the 
same quit rents as other lands are subject to in the province 
within which they are granted, as also subject to the same condi- 
tions of cultivation and improvement, viz. 

To every person having the rank of a field officer, 5000 acres. 

To every captain, 3000 acres. 

To every subaltern or staff officer, 2000 acres. 

To every non-commission officer, 200 acres. 

To every private man 50 acres. 

We do likewise authorise and require the governors and com- 
manders in chief of all our said colonies upon the continent of 
North America to grant the like quantities of land, and upon the 
same conditions, to such reduced officers of our navy of like 
rank, as served on board our ships of war in North America at 
the times of the reduction of Louisbourg and Quebec in the late 



Il6 ROYAL PROCLAMATION CONCERNING AMERICA [Oct. 7 

war, and who shall personally apply to our respective governors 
for such grants. 

And whereas It is just and reasonable, and essential to our 
interest, and the security of our colonies, that the several nations 
or tribes of Indians, with whom we are connected, and who live 
under our protection, should not be molested or disturbed in the 
possession of such parts of our dominions and territories as, not 
having been ceded to, or purchased by us, are reserved to them, 
or any of them, as their hunting grounds; we do . . . declare it 
to be our royal will and pleasure, that no governor, or commander 
in chief, in any of our colonies of Quebec, East Florida, or West 
Florida, do presume, upon any pretence whatever, to grant war- 
rants of survey, or pass any patents for lands beyond the bounds 
of their respective governments, as described in their commissions; 
as also that no governor or commander in chief of our other colo- 
nies or plantations in America, do presume for the present, and 
until our further pleasure be known, to grant warrant of survey, 
or pass patents for any lands beyond the heads or sources of any 
of the rivers which fall into the Atlantic Ocean from the west or 
north-west; or upon any lands whatever, which not having been 
ceded to, or purchased by us, as aforesaid, are reserved to the 
said Indians, or any of them. 

And we do further declare it to be our royal will and pleasure, 
for the present, as aforesaid, to reserve under our sovereignty, 
protection, and dominion, for the use of the said Indians, all 
the land and territories not included within the limits of our 
said three new governments, or within the limits of the territory 
granted to the Hudson's Bay company; as also all the land and 
territories lying to the westward of the sources of the rivers which 
fall into the sea from the west and north-west as aforesaid . . . 

[Persons who have inadvertently settled upon such reserved 
lands to remove. No sale of Indian lands to be allowed, except 
to the Crown. The Indian trade to be free to English subjects, 
under licence from the governor or commander in chief of some 
colony. Fugitives from justice, taking refuge in this reserved 
territory, to be apprehended and returned.] 



1764] SUGAR ACT 117 

No. 32. Sugar Act 

April 5, 1764 

Although the Seven Years' war had left Great Britain with a heavy 
debt, the expense of protecting the Enghsh possessions in America seemed 
likely to increase rather than diminish. The direct advantages of the 
expulsion of the French had accrued mainly to the colonies, and it seemed 
proper to the ministry that a revenue should be raised in America for the 
support of the military establishment there. In connection with the plan for 
a colonial army, it was the desire to provide stronger support for the repre- 
sentatives of the crown, and to put an end to the widespread violation of the 
acts of trade. "February 23, 1763, Charles Townshend became first lord 
of trade, with the administration of the colonies, and he inaugurated, with 
the support of the ministry, the new system of colonial government. It was 
announced by authority that there were to be no more requisitions from the 
king to the colonial assemblies for supplies, but that the colonies were to be 
taxed by act of Parliament. Colonial governors and judges were to be paid 
by the Crown ; they were to be supported by a standing army of twenty regi- 
ments; and all the expenses of this force were to be paid by parliamentary 
taxation" (Johnston). Grenville, who succeeded Bute in April as prime 
minister, was committed to this policy, and in May the Lords of Trade were 
called upon to submit a plan of colonial taxation. The duties prescribed by 
the Molasses Act of 1733 [No. 28] were prohibitory, and the statute itself had 
remained inoperative. To provide in part for the intended revenue, the act 
of April 5, 1764, known as the Sugar Act, was now passed, imposing duties 
upon certain colonial imports and exports. The Molasses Act was also made 
perpetual, but with a reduction by one-ha'f of the duty on molasses and sugar. 

The extracts following give the important sections of the act, omitting 
technical and administrative provisions. 

References. — Text in Pickering's Statutes at Large, XXVI., 33-52. 
The act is cited as 4 Geo. III., c. 15. On the act see especially Beer's Com- 
mercial Policy of England, chap. 8, and references there cited. 

An act for granting certain duties in the British colonies and 
plantations in America; for continuing, amending, and making 
perpetual . . . [the Molasses Act of 1733] . . . ; for applying 
the produce of such duties, and of the duties to arise by virtue of 
the said act, towards defraying the expences of defending, pro- 
tecting, and securing the said colonies and plantations ; for ex- 
plaining . . . [the Navigation Act of 1672] . . . ; and for alter- 
ing and disallowing several drawbacks on exports from this king- 
dom, and more effectually preventing the clandestine conveyance 
of goods to and from Hie said colonies and plantations, and im- 



Il8 SUGAR ACT [Aprils 

proving and securing the trade between the same and Great 

Britain. 

WHEREAS it is expedient that new provisions and regulations 
should be established for improving the revenue of this Kingdom, 
and for extending and securing the navigation and commerce 
between Great Britain and your Majesty's dominions in America, 
which, by the peace, have been so happily enlarged: and whereas 
it is just and necessary, that a revenue be raised, in your Majesty's 
said dominions in America, /or defraying the expences of defending, 
protecting, and securing the same; ... be it enacted . . . , Thai 
from and after . . . [September 29, 1764,] . . . there shall be 
raised, levied, collected, and paid, unto his Majesty . . . , for 
and upon all white or clayed sugars of the produce or manu- 
facture of any colony or plantation in America, not under the 
dominion of his Majesty . . . ; for and upon indico, and coffee 
of foreign produce or manufacture; for and upon all wines 
(except French wine;) for and upon all wrought silks, bengals, 
and stuffs, mixed with silk or herba, of the manufacture of Persia, 
China, or East India, and all callico painted, dyed, printed, or 
stained there; and for and upon all foreign linen cloth called 
Cambrick and French Lawns, which shall be imported or brought 
into any colony or plantation in America, which now is, or here- 
after may be, under the dominion of his Majesty . . . , the 
several rates and duties following; that is to say. 

For every hundred weight avoirdupois of such foreign white 
or clayed sugars, one pound two shillings, over and above all 
other duties imposed by any former act of parliament. 

For every pound weight avoirdupois of such foreign indico, six 
pence. 

For every hundred weight avoirdupois of such foreign coffee, 
which shall be imported from any place except Great Britain, 
two pounds, nineteen shillings, and nine pence. 

For every ton of wine of the growth of the Madeiras, or of 
any other island or place from whence such wine may be lawfully 
imported, and which shall be so imported from such islands or 
places, the sum of seven pounds. 

For every ton of Portugal, Spanish, or any other wine (except 
French wine) imported from Great Britain, the sum of ten 
shillings. 



1764] SUGAR ACT 119 

For every pound weight avoirdupois of wrought silks, bengals, 
and stuffs, mixed with silk or herba, of the manufacture of Persia, 
China, or East India, imported from Great Britain, two shillings. 

For every piece of callico painted, dyed, printed, or stained, 
in Persia, China, or East India, imported from Great Britain, 
two shillings and six pence. 

For every piece of foreign linen cloth, called Camhrick, im- 
ported from Great Britain, three shillings. 

For every piece of French lawn imported from Great Britain 
three shillings. . . . 

II. And it is hereby further enacted . . . That from and after 
. . . [September 29, 1764] . . . there shall also be raised, levied, 
collected, and paid, unto his Majesty . . . , for and upon all 
coffee and pimento of the growth and produce of any British 
colony or plantation in America, which shall be there laden on 
board any British ship or vessel, to be carried out from thence 
or any other place whatsoever, except Great Britain, the several 
rates and duties following; that is to say, 

III. For every hundred weight avoirdupois of such British 
coffee, seven shillings. 

For every pound weight avoirdupois of such British pimento, 
one halfpenny. . . . 

[Sections V. and VI. continue the Molasses Act in force until 
Sept. 30, 1764, after which it is to be perpetual, subject to the 
changes in this present act.] 

VI. And be it further enacted . . . , That in lieu and instead 
of the rate and duty imposed by the said act upon melasses and 
syrups, there shall, from and after . . . [September 29, 1764] 
. . . , be raised, levied, collected, and paid, unto his Majesty 
. . . , for and upon every gallon of melasses or syrups, being the 
growth, produce, or manufacture, of any colony or plantation in 
America, not under the dominion of his Majesty . . . , which 
shall be imported or brought into any colony or plantation in 
America, which now is, or hereafter may be, under the dominion 
of his Majesty . . . , the sum of three pence. 

XI. And it is hereby further enacted . . . , That all the monies 
which, from and after . . . [September 29, 1764] . . . , shall 
arise by the several rates and duties herein before granted; and 



I20 SUGAR ACT [Aprils 

also by the duties which, from and after the said [date], shall be 
raised upon sugars and paneles, by virtue of . . . [the Molasses 
Act] . . . , (except the necessary charges of raising, collecting, 
levying, recovering, answering, paying, and accounting for the 
same) shall be paid into the receipt of his Majesty's Exchequer, 
and shall be entered separate and apart from all other monies 
paid or payable to his Majesty . . . : and shall be there resen ed 
to be, from time to time, disposed of by parliament, towards 
defraying the necessar}' expences of defending, protecting, and 
securing, the British colonies and plantations in America. 

X\'III. And be it further enacted . . . , That from and after 
. . . [September 29, 1764] . . . , no rum or spirits of the produce 
or manufacture of any of the colonies or plantations in America, 
not in the possession or under the dominion of his Majesty . . . , 
shall be imported or brought into any of the colonies or planta- 
tions in America which now are, or hereafter may be, in the 
possession or under the dominion of his Majesty . . . , upon for- 
feiture of all such rum or spirits, together with the ship or vessel 
in which the same shall be imported, with the tackle, apparel, and 
furniture thereof. . . . 

XIX. And it is hereby further enacted . . . , That from 
and after . . . [September 29, 1764] . . . , nothing in . . . [the 
Molasses Act,] ... or any other act of parliament, shall ex- 
tend, or be construed to extend, to give liberty to any person 
or persons whatsoever to import into the kingdom of Ireland, 
any sort of sugars, but such only as shall be fairly and bona Jide 
loaden and shipped in Great Britain, and carried directly from 
thence in ships navigated according to law. 

* ******* 

XX\TI. And it is hereby further enacted . . . , That from 
and after . . . [September 29, 1764] . . . , all coffee, pimento, 
cocoa nuts, whale fins, raw silk, hides, and skins, pot and pearl 
ashes, of the growth, production, or manufacture, of any British 
colony or plantation in America, shall be imported directly from 
thence into this kingdom, or some other British colony or plan- 
tation . . . 

XX\TII. And it is hereby further enacted . . . , That from 
and after . . . [September 29, 1764] . . . , no iron, nor any sort 



1764] SUGAR ACT 121 

of wood, commonly called Lumber, as specified in an act passed in 
the eighth year of the reign of ,King George the First, intituled, 
An act for giving further encouragement for the importation of 
naval stores, and for other purposes therein mentioned, of the 
growth, production, or manufacture, of any British colony or 
plantation in America, shall be there loaden on board any ship 
or vessel to be carried from thence, until sufficient bond shall be 
given, with one surety besides the master of the vessel, to the 
collector or other principal officer of the customs at the loading 
port, in a penalty of double the value of the goods, with condi- 
tion, that the said goods shall not be landed in any part of Eu- 
rope except Great Britain. . . . 

XXIX. And, for the better preventing frauds in the importa- 
tion or exportation of goods that are liable to the payment of 
duties, or are prohibited, in the British colonies or plantations 
in .4 wfnVj, it is further enacted . . . , That from and after . . . 
[September 29, 1764] . . . , no goods, wares, or merchandizes, 
of any kind whatsoever, shall be shipped or laden on board any 
ship or vessel in any of the British colonies or plantations in 
America, to be carried from thence to any other British colonv 
or plantation, without a sullerance or warrant first had and ob- 
tained from the collector or other proper officer of the customs 
at the port or place where such goods shall be intended to be put 
on Board. . . . 

XXX. And whereas British vessels arriving from foreign parts 
at several of the out ports of this kingdom, fully or in part laden 
abroad with goods that are pretended to be destined to some 
foreign plantation, do frequently take on board some small par- 
cels of goods in this kingdom which are entered outwards for 
some British colony or plantation, and a cocket and clearance 
thereupon granted for such goods, under cover of which the 
whole cargoes of such vessels are clandestinely landed in the 
British American dominions, contrary to several acts of parlia- 
ment now in force, to the great prejudice of the trade and 
revenue of this kingdom; for remedy whereof, be it further 
enacted . . . , That from and after . . . [May i, 1764,] ... no 
ship or vessel shall, upon any pretence whatsoever, be cleared 
outwards from any port of this kingdom, for any land, island, 
plantation, colony, territory, or place to his Majesty belonging, or 



122 STAMP ACT [March 22 

which shall hereafter belong unto or be in the possession or undei 
the dominion of his Majesty . . . , in America, unless the whole 
and entire cargo of such ship or vessel shall be bona fide, and with- 
out fraud, laden and shipped in this kingdom. . . . 

XXXI. Provided always, That this act shall not extend, nor 
be construed to extend, to forfeit, for want of such cocket or 
clearance, any salt laden in Europe for the fisheries in New 
England, Newfoundland, Pensylvania, New York, and Nova 
Scotia, or any other place to which salt is or shall be allowed 
by law to be carried ; wines laden in the Madeiras, of the growth 
thereof; and wines of the growth of the Western Islands, or 
Azores, and laden there; nor any horses, victuals, or linen cloth, 
of and from Ireland, which may be laden on board such ships 
or vessels. 



No. 33. Stamp Act 

March 22, 1765 

A STAMP act formed part of the plan of colonial taxation outlined by 
Townshend in 1763, and adopted by Grenville when the latter became prime 
minister (see note to No. 32). In September, 1763, the commissioners of 
stamp duties were requested to draft provisions for the extension of those 
duties to America. In March, 1764, shortly before the passage of the Sugar 
Act, Grenville announced his intention of introducing, at the next session, a 
stamp bill; and the plan received the approval of Parliament. In the mean- 
time, opportunity was given the colonial agents to communicate with their 
respective governments, in order that the colonies, in case the stamp tax were 
deemed objectionable, might agree upon some other method of raising the 
desired revenue. The prospect of parliamentary taxation was viewed with 
alarm in America, where a stricter enforcement of the acts of trade was al- 
ready thought to threaten disaster to commerce. When, however, the subject 
was again brought before Parliament by Grenville, in February, 1765, the 
colonial agents, although remonstrating against the. proposed measure, were 
unable to recommend any substitute ; while petitions from the colonial assem- 
blies, and from London merchants interested in the American trade, were 
refused consideration, under a rule of the House of Commons forbidding the 
reception of petitions on money bills. There was little opposition in Parlia- 
ment, and the bill passed the Commons by a vote of 205 to 49, and the Lords 
without a division. George III. was at the time insane, and the act received 
the royal assent, March 22, by commission. 



1765] STAMP ACT 123 

References. — Text in Pickering's Statutes at Large, XXVI., 179-204. 
The act is cited as 5 Geo. III., c. 12. The proceedings in Parliament may 
be followed in the Parliamentary History, XV., XVI., and the Annual Reg- 
ister (1765). The fullest account of the debates is in Bancroft's United States 
(ed. 1852), V. Bradford's Massachusetts State Papers, 33-92, gives the ad- 
dresses and messages of Governor Bernard, and the answers of the House of 
Representatives, of that colony, in relation to the act and its repeal. The 
best-known contemporary expression of American opinion, called out by the 
Sugar Act and the proposal of a stamp act, is Otis's Rights of the British 
Colonies; for a more moderate statement, see Stephen Hopkins's Rights of 
the Colonies Examined (in R. I. Col. Records, VI.). 

An act for granting and applying certain stamp duties, and other 
duties, in the British colonies and plantations in America, 
towards further defraying the expences of defending, protecting, 
and securing the same; and for amending such parts of the 
several acts of parliament relating to the trade and revenues of 
the said colonies and plantations, as direct the manner of deter- 
mining and recovering the penalties and forfeitures therein 
mentioned. 

WHEREAS by an act made in the last session of parliament, 
several duties were granted, continued, and appropriated, towards 
defraying the expences of defending, protecting, and securing, the 
British colonies and plantations in America: and whereas it is 
just and necessary, that provision he made for raising a further 
revenue within your Majesty's dominions in America, towards 
defraying the said expences: ... be it enacted . . . , That from 
and after . . . [November i, 1765,] . . . there shall be raised, 
levied, collected, and paid unto his Majesty, his heirs, and succes- 
sors, throughout the colonies and plantations in America which 
now are, or hereafter may be, under the dominion of his Majesty, 
his heirs and successors, 

For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or 
piece of paper, on which shall be ingrossed, written or printed, 
any declaration, plea, replication, rejoinder, demurrer, or other 
pleading, or any copy thereof, in any court of law within the 
British colonies and plantations in America, a stamp duty of 
three pence. 

[Then follow specifications of numerous kinds of legal docu- 
ments, with the several rates of duty thereon.] 



124 STAMP ACT [March 22 

For every skin ... on which shall be ingrossed . . . any 
note or bill of lading, which shall be signed for any kind of 
goods, wares, or merchandize, to be exported from, or any cocket 
or clearance granted within the said colonies and plantations, a 
stamp duty of four pence. 

For every skin ... on which shall be ingrossed . . . letters of 
mart, or commission for private ships of war . , . , a stamp duty 
of twenty shillings. 

For every skin ... on which shall be ingrossed . . . any 
grant, appointment, or admission of or to any publick beneficial 
office or employment, for the space of one year, or anv lesser time, 
of or above the value of twenty pounds per annum sterling money, 
in salary, fees, and perquisites . . . , (except commissions and 
appointments of officers of the army, navy, ordnance, or militia, 
of judges, and of justices of the peace) a stamp duty of ten shillings. 

For every skin ... on which any grant of any liberty, privilege, 
or franchise, under the seal of any of the said colonies or planta- 
tions, or under the seal or sign manual of any governor, proprietor, 
or publick officer alone, or in conjunction with any other person 
or persons, or with any council, or any council and assembly, or 
any exemplification of the same, shall be ingrossed . . . , a stamp 
duty of six pounds. 

For every skin ... on which shall be ingrossed . . . any 
licence for retailing of spirituous liquors, to be granted to any 
person who shall take out the same . . . , a stamp duty of twenty 
shillings. 

[Specifications of duties on other forms of liquor licenses follow.] 

For every skin ... on which shall be ingrossed . . . any 
probate of a will, letters of administration, or of guardianship 
for any estate above the value of twenty pounds sterling money; 
within the British colonies and plantations upon the continent 
of America, the islands belonging thereto, and the Bermuda and 
Bahama islands, a stamp duty of five shillings. 

For every skin ... on which shall be ingrossed . . . any such 
probate, letters of administration or of guardianship, within all 
other parts of the British dominions in America, a stamp duty 
of ten shillings. 

For every skin . . . on which shall l)c ingrossed . . . any bond 
for securing the payment of any sum of money, not e.xceeding the 



1765] STAMP ACT 125 

sum of ten pounds sterling money, within the British colonies 
and plantations upon the continent of America, the islands be- 
longing thereto, and the Bermuda and Bahama islands, a stamp 
duty of six pence. 

[Bonds for sums above ;^io and not exceeding ;^2o, one shilling; 
above ;^2o and not exceeding £40, one shilling and sixpence.] 

For every skin ... on which shall be ingrossed . . . any order 
or warrant for surveying or setting out any quantity of land, not 
exceeding one hundred acres, issued by any governor, proprietor, 
or any publick officer alone, or in conjunction with any other 
person or persons, or with any council, or any council and assem- 
bly, within the British colonies and plantations in America, a 
stamp duty of six pence. [Further provision for larger grants.] 

For every skin ... on which shall be ingrossed . . . any origi- 
nal grant, or any deed, mesne conveyance, or other instrument 
whatsoever, by which any quantity of land not exceeding one 
hundred acres shall be granted, conveyed, or assigned, within the 
British colonies and plantations upon the continent of America, 
the islands belonging thereto, and the Bermuda and Bahama 
islands (except leases for any term not exceeding the term of 
twenty one years) a stamp duty of one shilling and six pence. 
[Further provision for larger grants.] 

For every skin ... on which shall be ingrossed . . . any such 
original grant ... by which any quantity of land not exceeding 
one hundred acres shall be granted . . . within all other parts 
of the British dominions in America, a stamp duty of three 
shillings. [Further provision for larger grants.] 

For every skin ... on which shall be ingrossed . . . any grant, 
appointment, or admission, of or to any publick beneficial office 
or employment, not herein before charged, above the value of 
twenty pounds per annum sterling money in salary, fees, and per- 
quisites, or any exemplification of the same, within the British 
colonies and plantations upon the continent of America, the 
islands belonging thereto, and the Bermuda and Bahama islands 
(except commissions of officers of the army, navy, ordnance, or 
mihtia, and of justices of the peace) a stamp duty of four pounds. 

For every skin ... on which shall be ingrossed . . . any such 
grant . . . within all other parts of the British dominions in 
America, a stamp duty of six pounds. 



126 STAMP ACT [March 2i 

For every skin . . . on which shall be ingrossed . . . any inden- 
ture, lease, conveyance, contract, stipulation, bill of sale, charter 
party, protest, articles of apprenticeship, or covenant (except for 
the hire of servants not apprentices, and also except such other 
matters as are herein before charged) within the British colonies 
and plantations in America, a stamp duty of two shillings and 
six pence. 

For every skin ... on which any warrant or order for auditing 
any publick accounts, beneficial warrant, order, grant, or certifi- 
cate, under any publick seal, or under the seal or sign manual of 
any governor, proprietor, or publick officer alone, or in conjunc- 
tion with any other person or persons, or with any council, or any 
council and assembly, not herein before charged, or any passport 
or let-pass, surrender of oliice, or policy of assurance, shall be 
ingrossed . . . (except warrants or orders for the service of the 
navy, army, ordnance, or militia, and grants of offices under 
twenty pounds per annum in salary, fees, and perquisites) a stamp 
duty of five shillings. 

For every skin ... on which shall be ingrossed . . . any 
notarial act, bond, deed, letter of attorney, procuration, mort- 
gage, release, or other obligatory instrument, not herein before 
charged . . . , a stamp duty of two shillings and three pence. 

For every skin ... on which shall be ingrossed . . . any 
register, entry, or inroUment of any grant, deed, or other instru- 
ment whatsoever herein before charged . . . , a stamp duty of 
three pence. 

For every skin ... on which shall be ingrossed . . . any 
register, . . . not herein before charged . . . , a stamp duty of 
two shillings. 

And for and upon every pack of playing cards, and all dice, 
which shall be sold or used . . . , the several stamp duties fol- 
lowing (that is to say) 

For every pack of such cards, the sum of one shilling. 

And for every pair of such dice, the sum of ten shillings. 

And for and upon every paper, commonly called a pamphlet, 
and upon every news paper . . . and for and upon such advertise- 
ments as are herein after mentioned, the respective duties follow- 
ing (that is to say) 

For every such pamphlet and paper contained in half a sheet, 



1765] STAMP ACT 127 

or any lesser piece of paper . . . , a stamp duty of one hali- 
penny, for every printed copy thereof. 

For every such pamphlet and paper (being larger than half a 
sheet, and not exceeding one whole sheet) . . . , a stamp duty of 
one penny, for every printed copy thereof. 

For every pamphlet and paper being larger than one whole 
sheet, and not exceeding six sheets in octavo, or in a lesser page, 
or not exceeding twelve sheets in quarto, or twenty sheets in 
folio . . . , a duty after the rate of one shilling for every sheet 
of any kind of paper which shall be contained in one printed copy 
thereof. 

For every advertisement to be contained in any gazette, news 
paper, or other paper, or any pamphlet . . . , a duty of two 
shillings. 

For every almanack or calendar, for any one particular year, or 
for any time less than a year, which shall be written or printed 
on one side only of any one sheet, skin, or piece of paper parch- 
ment, or vellum . . . , a stamp duty of two pence. 

For every other almanack or calendar for any one particular 
year . . . , a stamp duty of four pence. 

And for every almanack or calendar written or printed . . . , 
to serve for several years, duties to the same amount respectively 
shall be paid for every such year. 

For every skin ... on which any instrument, proceeding, or 
other matter or thing aforesaid, shall be ingrossed . . . , in any 
other than the English language, a stamp duty of double the 
amount of the respective duties before charged thereon. 

And there shall be also paid ... a duty of six pence for every 
twenty shillings, in any sum not exceeding fifty pounds sterling 
money, which shall be given, paid, contracted, or agreed for, with 
or in relation to any clerk or apprentice, which shall be put or 
placed to or with any master or mistress to learn any profession, 
trade, or employment. 

II. And also a duty of one shilling for every twenty shillings, 
in any sum exceeding fifty pounds, which shall be given, paid, 
contracted, or agreed, for, with, or in relation to any such clerk 
or apprentice. 

******** 

V. And be it further enacted . . • , That all books and pam- 



128 STAMP ACT [March 22 

phlets serving chiefly for the purpose of an almanack, by what- 
soever name or names intituled or described, are and shall be 
charged with the duty imposed by this act on almanacks, but not 
with any of the duties charged by this act on pamphlets, or other 
printed papers . . . 

VI. Provided always, that this act shall not extend to charge 
any bills of exchange, accompts, bills of parcels, bills of fees, 
or any bills or notes not sealed for payment of money at sight, 
or upon demand, or at the end of certain days of payment. 



X. Provided always. That this act shall not extend to charge 
any proclamation, forms of prayer and thanksgiving, or any 
printed votes of any house of assembly in any of the said colo- 
nies and plantations, with any of the said duties on pamphlets 
or news papers; or to charge any books commonly used in any 
of the schools within the said colonies and plantations, or any 
books containing only matters of devotion or piety; or to charge 
any single advertisement printed by itself, or the daily accounts 
or bills of goods imported and exported . . . 



XII. And be it further enacted . . . , That the said several 
duties shall be under the management of the commissioners, for 
the time being, of the duties charged on stamped vellum, parch- 
ment, and paper, in Great Britain: and the said commissioners 
are hereby impowered and required to employ such officers under 
them, for that purpose, as they shall think proper . . . 



XV. And be it further enacted . . . , That if any person or 
persons shall sign, ingross, A\Tite, print, or sell, or expose to sale, 
or cause to be signed, ingrossed, written, printed, or sold, or 
exposed to sale, in any of the said colonies or plantations, or in 
any other part of his Majesty's dominions, any matter or thing, 
for which the vellum ... is hereby charged to pay any duty, 
before the same shall be marked or stamped with the marks or 
stamps to be provided as aforesaid, or upon which there shall 
not be some stamp or mark resembling the same; or shall sign, 



1765] STAMP ACT 129 

ingross, ... or expose to sale . . . , any matter or thing upon 
any vellum . . . that shall be marked or stamped for any lower 
duty than the duty by this act made payable in respect thereof; 
every such person so offending shall, for every such ofifence, for- 
feit the sum of ten pounds. 

XVI. And be it further enacted . . . , That no matter or 
thing whatsoever, by this act charged with the payment of a duty, 
shall be pleaded or given in evidence, or admitted in any court 
within the said colonies and plantations, to be good, useful, or 
available in law or equity, unless the same shall be marked or 
stamped, in pursuance of this act, with the respective duty hereby 
charged thereon, or with an higher duty. 

XXI. And be it further enacted . . . , That if any register, 
puklick officer, clerk, or other person in any court, registry, or 
office within any of the said colonies or plantations, shall, at any 
time after . . . [November i, 1765,] . . . enter, register, or 
inroU, any matter or thing hereby charged with a stamp duty, 
unless the same shall appear to be duly stamped; in every such 
case such register, publick officer, clerk, or other person, shall, 
for every such offence, forfeit the sum of twenty pounds. ' 

******** 

XXVII. And it is hereby further enacted . . . , That no person 
whatsoever shall sell or expose to sale any such pamphlet, or any 
news paper, without the true respective name or names, and place or 
places of abode, of some known person or persons by or for whom 
the same was really and truly printed or published, shall be written 
or printed thereon ; upon pain that every person offending therein 
shall, for every such offence, forfeit the sum of twenty pounds. 
******** 

XXXII. And it is hereby further enacted . , . , That from and 
after . . . [November i, 1765,] ... in case any person or per- 
sons, within any of the said colonies . . . , shall sell, hawk, 
carry about, utter, or expose to sale, any almanack, or calendar, 
or any news paper, or any book, pamphlet, or paper, deemed or 
construed to be, or serving the purpose of, an almanack or news 
paper, within the intention and meaning of this act, not being 

K 



130 STAMP ACT [March 21 

Stamped or marked as by this act is directed ; every such person, 
shall for every such offence, forfeit the sum of forty shillings. 
******** 

LIV. And be it further enacted . . . , That all the monies 
which shall arise by the several rates and duties hereby granted 
(except the necessary charges of raising, collecting, recovering, 
answering, paying, and accounting for the same and the necessary 
charges from time to time incurred in relation to this act, and 
the execution thereof) shall be paid into the receipt of his Maj- 
esty's exchequer, and shall be entered separate and apart from 
all other monies, and shall be there reserved to be from time to 
time disposed of by parliament, towards further defraying the 
necessary expences of defending, protecting, and securing, the 
said colonies and plantations. 

******** 

LVII. [Forfeitures and penalties incurred after September 29, 
1765, for offences against the Sugar Act (4 Geo. III., c. 15,)]) and 
for offences committed against any other act or acts of Parliament 
relating to the trade or revenues of the said colonies or planta- 
tions; shall and may be prosecuted, sued for, and recovered, in 
any court of record, or in any court of admiralty, in the respec- 
tive colony or plantation where the offence shall be committed, 
or in any court of vice admiralty appointed or to be appointed, 
and which shall have jurisdiction within such colony, plantation, 
or place, (which courts of admiralty or vice admiralty are hereby 
respectively authorized and required to proceed, hear, and deter- 
mine the same) at the election of the informer or prosecutor. 

LVIII. [Penalties and forfeitures incurred for offences against 
this act to be sued for and recovered as in Sec. LVII.]; and that 
from and after . . . [September 29, 1765] . . . , in all cases, 
where any suit or prosecution shall be commenced and determined 
for any penalty or forfeiture inflicted by this act, or by the said act 
made in the fourth year of his present Majesty's reign, or by any 
other act of parliament relating to the trade or revenues of the 
said colonies or plantations, in any court of admirality in the 
respective colony or plantation where the offence shall be com- 
mitted, either party, who shall think himself aggrieved by such 
determination, may appeal from such determination to any court 
of vice admiralty appointed or to be appointed, and which shall 



1765] QUARTERING ACT 131 

have jurisdiction within such colony, plantation, or place . . . ; 
and the forfeitures and penalties hereby inflicted, which shall be 
incurred in any other part of his Majesty's dominions, shall and 
may be prosecuted, sued for, and recovered, with full costs of suit, 
in any court of record within the kingdom, territory, or place, 
where the offence shall be committed, in such and the same man- 
ner as any debt or damage, to the amount of such forfeiture or 
penalty, can or may be sued for and recovered. 



No. 34. Quartering Act 

April, 1765 

Further to carry into effect the plans of the ministry in reference to 
America, the annual Mutiny Act of 1765 authorized the dispatch to the 
colonies of such troops as might be deemed necessary. As it was anticipated 
that the number so sent would be greater than formerly, the Quartering Act 
was passed to provide for their accommodation. The provisions of the 
act were re-enacted in 1775 (15 Geo. III., c. 15), and made applicable to the 
naval forces while on shore. 

References. — Text in Pickering's Statutes at Large, XXVI., 305-318. 
The act is cited as 5 Geo. III., c. 33. 

An ad to amend and render more effectual, in his Majesty'' s domin- 
ions in America, an act passed in this present session of parlia- 
ment, intituled, An act for punishing mutiny and desertion, and 
for the better payment of the army and their quarters. 
WHEREAS ... [by the Mutiny Act of 1765] . . . several 
regulations are made and enacted for the better government of the 
army, and their observing strict discipline, and for providing 
quarters for the army, and carriages on marches and other neces- 
sary occasions, and inflicting penalties on offenders against the same 
act, and for many other good purposes therein mentioned; but the 
same may not be sufficient for the forces that may be employed in 
his Majesty^ s dominions in America: and whereas, during the con- 
timiance of the said act, there may be occasion for marching and 
quartering of regiments and companies of his Majesty^s forces in 
several parts of his Majesty's dominions in America : and whereas 
the publick houses and barracks, in his Majesty's dominions in 



132 QUARTERING ACT [April 

America, may not he sufficient to supply quarters for such forces: 
and whereas it is expedient and necessary that carriages and other 
conveniences, upon the march of troops in his Majesty'' s dojyiinions 
in America., should be supplied for that purpose: he it enacted . . . , 
That for and during the continuance of this act, and no longer, 
it shall and may be lawful to and for the constables, tithingmen, 
magistrates, and other civil officers of villages, towns, townships, 
cities, districts, and other places, within his Majesty's dominions 
in America, and in their default or absence, for any one justice 
of the peace inhabiting in or near any such village, township, 
city, district or place, and for no others ; and such constables . . . 
and other civil officers as aforesaid, are hereby required to billet 
and quarter the officers and soldiers, in his Majesty's service, in 
the barracks provided by the colonies; and if there shall not be 
sufficient room in the said barracks for the officers and soldiers, 
then and in such case only, to quarter and billet the residue . . , 
in inns, livery stables, ale-houses, victualling-houses, and the houses 
of sellers of wine by retail to be drank in their own houses or places 
thereunto belonging, and all houses of persons selling of rum, 
brandy, strong water, cyder or metheglin, by retail, to be drank in 
houses; and in case there shall not be sufficient room for the 
officers and soldiers in such barracks, inns, victualling and other 
publick ale-houses, that in such and no other case, and upon no 
other account, it shall and may be lawful for the governor and 
council of each respective province in his Majesty's dominions in 
America, to authorize and appoint, and they are hereby directed 
and impowered to authorize and appoint, such proper person or 
persons as they shall think fit, to take, hire and make fit, and, in 
default of the said governor and council appointing and author- 
izing such person or persons, or in default of such person or per- 
sons so appointed neglecting or refusing to do their duty, in that 
case it shall and may be lawful for any two or more of his Majesty's 
justices of the peace in or near the said villages, towns, townships, 
cities, districts, and other places, and they are hereby required 
to take, hire, and make fit for the reception of his Majesty's 
forces, such and so many uninhabited houses, outhouses, barns, 
or other buildings, as shall be necessary, to quarter therein the 
residue of such officers and soldiers for whom there should not be 
room in such barracks and publick houses as aforesaid . . . 



1765] " QUARTERING ACT • 133 

II. And it is hereby declared and enacted, That there shall be 
no more billets at any time ordered, than there are effective 
soldiers present to be quartered therein: and in order that this 
service may be effectually provided for, the commander in chief 
in America, or other officer under whose orders any regiment or 
company shall march, shall, from time to time, give . . . ^s 
early notice as conveniently may be, in writing, signed by such 
commander or officer of their march, specifying their numbers 
and time of marching as near as may be, to the respective governors 
of each province through which they are to march ... 

III. [Military officers taking upon themselves to quarter sol- 
diers contrary to this act, or using any menace to a civil officer 
to deter him from his duty, to be cashiered. Persons aggrieved 
by having soldiers quartered upon them may complain to justices 
of the peace, and be relieved.] 

* * * * -x- ** * 

V. Provided nevertheless, and it is hereby enacted. That the 
officers and soldiers so qiiartered and billeted as aforesaid (except 
such as shall be quartered in the barracks, and hired uninhabited 
houses, or other buildings as aforesaid) shall be received and fur- 
nished with diet, and small beer, cyder, or rum mixed with water, 
by the owners of the inns, livery stables, alehouses, victualling- 
houses, and other houses in which they are allowed to be quar- 
tered and billeted by this act; paying and allowing for the same 
the several rates herein after mentioned to be payable, out of the 
subsistence-money, for diet and small beer, cyder, or rum mixed 
with water. 

VI. Provided always. That in case any innholder, or other 
person, on whom any non-commission officers or private men 
shall be quartered by virtue of this act, . . . (except on a march, 
or employed in recruiting, and likewise except the recruits by them 
raised, for the space of seven days at most, for such non-commission 
officers and soldiers who are recruiting, and recruits by them 
raised) shall be desirous to furnish such non-commission officers 
or soldiers with candles, vinegar, and salt, and with small beer or 
cyder, not exceeding five pints, or half a pint of rum mixed with a 
quart of water, for each man per diem, gratis, and allow to such non- 
commission officers or soldiers the use of fire, and the necessary 
u[n]tensils for dressing and eating their meat, and shall give 



134 • QUARTERING ACT [April 

notice of such his desire to the commanding officer, and shall 
furnish and allow the same accordingly; then . . . the non- 
commission officers and soldiers so quartered shall provide their 
own victuals; and the officer to whom it belongs to receive, or that 
actually does receive, the pay and subsistence of such non-com- 
mission officers and soldiers, shall pay the several sums herein 
after-mentioned to be payable, out of the subsistence-money, 
for diet and small beer, to the non-commission officers and soldiers 
aforesaid . . . 

VII. And whereas there are several barracks in several places 
in his Majesty's said dominions in America, or some of them, 
provided by the colonies, for the lodging and covering of soldiers 
in lieu of quarters, for the ease and conveniency as well of the 
inhabitants of and in such colonies, as of the soldiers ; it is hereby 
further enacted, That all such officers and soldiers, so put and 
placed in such barracks, or in hired uninhabited houses, out- 
houses, barns, or other buildings, shall, from time to time, be 
furnished and supplied there by the persons to be authorized or 
appointed for that purpose by the governor and council of each 
respective province, or upon neglect or refusal of such governor 
and council in any province, then by two or more justices of the 
peace residing in or near such place, with fire, candles, vinegar, and 
salt, bedding, utensils for dressing their victuals, and small beer or 
cyder, not exceeding five pints, or half a pint of rum mixed with a 
quart of water, to each man, without paying any thing for the same. 

VIII. [Persons taking or hiring uninhabited houses, &ic., for 
troops, and furnishing supplies as aforesaid, to be reimbursed by 
the province.] 

* * ** * * -Sf- * 

XI. And be it further enacted . . . , That if any constable, 
tythingman, magistrate, or other chief officer or person whatso- 
ever, who, by virtue or colour of this act, shall quarter or billet, 
or be employed in quartering or billeting, any officers or soldiers, 
within his Majesty's said dominions in America, shaW neglect or 
refuse, for the space of two hours, to quarter or billet such officers 
or soldiers, when thereunto required, in such manner as is by 
this act directed, provided sufficient notice be given before the 
arrival of such forces; ... or in case any victualler, or any other 
person . . . , liable by this act to have any officer or soldier 



1765] QUARTERING ACT 135 

billeted or quartered on him or her, shall refuse to receive or victual 
any such officer or soldier ... ; or in case any person or persons 
shall refuse to furnish or allow, according to the directions of this 
act, the several things herein before directed to be furnished or 
allowed to officers and soldiers, so quartered or billeted on him or 
her, or in the barracks, and hired uninhabited houses, out-houses, 
barns or other buildings, as aforesaid, at the rate herein after 
mentioned ; and shall be thereof convicted before one of the mag- 
istrates of any one of the supreme chief or principal common law 
courts of the colony where such offence shall be committed, . . . 
[every such offender shall forfeit not less than forty shillings nor 
more than ;^5.] 

XV. And be if further enacted . . . , That for the better and 
more regular provision of carriages for his Majesty's forces in 
their marches, or for their arms, cloaths, or accoutrements, in 
his Majesty's said dominions in America, all justices of the peace 
within their several villages . . . [&c.] . . . and places, being 
duly required thereunto by an order from his Majesty, or the 
general of his forces, or of the general commanding, or the com- 
manding officer there shall, as often as such order is brought and 
shewn unto one or more or them, by the quarter-master, adjutant, 
or other officer of the regiment, detachment, or company, so ordered 
to march, issue out his or their warrants to the constables ... or 
other officers of the villages . . . and other places, from, through, 
near, or to which such regiment, detachment, or company, shall 
be ordered to march, requiring them to make such provision for 
carriages, with able men to drive the same, as shall be mentioned 
ii;i the said warrant : allowing them reasonable time to do the same, 
that the neighbouring parts may not always bear the burthen: 
and in case sufficient carriages cannot be provided within any such 
village ... or other place, then the next justice or justices of 
the peace of the village ... or other place, shall, upon such 
order as aforesaid . . . , issue his or their warrants to the con- 
stables ... or other officers, of such next village ... or other 
place, for the purposes aforesaid, to make up such deficiency; 
and such constable ... or other officer, shall order or appoint 
such person or persons, having carriages, within their respective 
villages ... or other places, as they shall think proper, to provide 



136 RESOLUTIONS OF THE STAMP ACT CONGRESS [Oct. 19 

and furnish such carriages and men, according to the warrant 
aforesaid . . . 

XVI. And be it further enacted, That the pay or hire for a 
New York waggon, carrying twelve hundred pounds gross weight, 
shall be seven pence sterling for each mile; and for every other 
carriage in that and every other colony . . . , in the same pro- 
portion; and at or after the same rate or price for what weight 
every such other carriage shall carry; and that the first day's 
pay or hire for every such carriage, shall be paid down by such 
officer to such constable ... or other civil officer, who shall get 
or procure such carriages, for the use of the owner or owners 
thereof; and the pay or hire for every such carriage after the first 
day, shall be paid every day, from day to day, by such officer as 
aforesaid, into the hands of the driver or drivers of such carriages 
respectively, until such carriages shall be discharged from such 
service, for the use of the owner and owners thereof. 

XVIII. Provided also, That no such waggon, cart, or carriage, 
shall be obliged to travel more than one day's march, if, within 
that time, they shall arrive at any other place where other car- 
riages may be procured; but, in case other sufficient carriages 
cannot be procured, then such carriages shall be obliged to con- 
tinue in the service till they shall arrive at such village ... or 
other place, where proper and sufficient carriages, for the service 
of the forces, may be procured. 



No. 35. Resolutions of the Stamp Act 
Congress 

October 19, 1765 

In a circular letter of June 8, 1765, the Massachusetts House of Represent- 
atives proposed to the other colonies the appointment of committees to meet 
at New York, in October, "to consult together on the present circumstances 
of the colonies, and the difficulties to which they are and must be reduced by 
the operation of the acts of parliament, for levying duties and taxes on the 
colonics; and to consider of a general and united, dutiful, loyal and humble 
representation of their condition to his majesty and to the parliament, and to 



1765] RESOLUTIONS OF THE STAMP ACT CONGRESS 1 37 

implore relief." The congress met October 7, delegates, variously appointed, 
being present from Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, 
New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, and South Carolina, 
Timothy Ruggles of Massachusetts was chosen chairman. On the 19th a 
"declaration of the rights and grievances of the colonists in America," origi- 
nally drafted by John Dickinson, a delegate from Pennsylvania, was agreed to ; 
on the 22d a petition to the King, also drawn by Dickinson, and a memorial 
and petition to the House of Lords, were approved, followed on the 23d by a 
petition to the Commons. After voting to recommend to the several colonies 
the appointment of special agents "for soliciting relief from their present 
grievances" in England, the congress adjourned. Ruggles did not assent to 
the declaration of the congress, and was later censured for his refusal by the 
Massachusetts House of Representatives. The petition to the Commons was 
presented in that body January 27, 1766, and, after some debate, was passed 
over without action. 

References. — Text in Almon's Prior Documents, 27, 28. The journal 
of the congress was printed in Niles's Weekly Register, II., 337-342, 353- 
355, and reprinted in Niles's Principles and Acts of the Revolution. Dick- 
inson's draft is in his Writings (Ford's ed., 1895), I., 183-1S7. The best 
account of the congress is that of Frothingham, Rise of the Republic, chap. 5; 
see also two letters to Thomas McKean, in John Adams's Works, X., 60-63. 



The members of this Congress, sincerely devoted, with the 
warmest sentiments of affection and duty to his Majesty's person 
and government, inviolably attached to the present happy estab- 
lishment of the Protestant succession, and with minds deeply 
impressed by a sense of the present and impending misfortunes 
of the British colonies on this continent; having considered as 
maturely as time will permit, the circumstances of the said colo- 
nies, esteem it our indispensible duty to make the following 
declarations of our humble opinion, respecting the most essential 
rights and liberties of the colonists, and of the grievances under 
which they labour, by reason of several late acts of parliament. 

I. That his Majesty's subjects in these colonies, owe the same 
allegiance to the crown of Great Britain, that is owing from his 
subjects born within the realm, and all due subordination to that 
august body the parUament of Great-Britain. 

II. That his Majesty's liege subjects in these colonies, are 
intitled to all the inherent rights and liberties of his natural born 
subjects, within the kingdom of Great-Britain. 

III. That it is inseparably essential to the freedom of a people, 
and the undoubted right of Englishmen, that no Taxes be imposed 



138 RESOLUTIONS OF THE STAMP ACT CONGRESS [Oct. 19 

on them but with their own consent, given personally, or by their 
representatives. 

IV. That the people of these colonies are not, and, from their 
local circumstances, cannot be, represented in the House of 
Commons in Great-Britain. 

V. That the only representatives of the people of these colo- 
nies are persons chosen therein by themselves, and that no taxes 
ever have been, or can be constitutionally imposed on them, but 
by their respective legislatures. 

VI. That all supplies to the crown being free gifts of the 
people, it is unreasonable and inconsistent with the principles 
and spirit of the British constitution, for the people of Great- 
Britain to grant to his Majesty the property of the colonists. 

VII. That trial by jury, is the inherent and invaluable right 
of every British subject in these colonies. 

VIII. That . . . [the Stamp Act] . . . , by imposing taxes on 
the inhabitants of these colonies, and the said act, and several 
other acts, by extending the jurisdiction of the courts of admiralty 
beyond its ancient limits, have a manifest tendency to subvert 
the rights and liberties of the colonists. 

IX. That the duties imposed by several late acts of parlia- 
ment, from the peculiar circumstances of these colonies, will 
be extremely burthensome and grievous; and from the scarcity 
of specie, the payment of them absolutely impracticable. 

X. That as the profits of the trade of these colonies ultimately 
center in Great-Britain, to pay for the manufactures which they 
are obliged to take from thence, they eventually contribute very 
largely to all supplies granted there to the crown. 

XI. That the restrictions imposed by several late acts of par- 
liament on the trade of these colonies, will render them unable 
to purchase the manufactures of Great-Britain. 

XII. That the increase, prosperity and happiness of these 
colonies, depend on the full and free enjoyments of their rights 
and liberties, and an intercourse with Great-Britain mutually 
affectionate and advantageous. 

XIII. That it is the right of the British subjects in these colo- 
nies to petition the king, or either house of parliament. 

Lastly, That it is the indispensible duty of these colonies, to 
the best of sovereigns, to the mother country, and to themselves, 



1765] DECLARATORY ACT 139 

to endeavour by a loyal and dutiful address to his Majesty, and 
humble applications to both houses of parliament, to procure the 
repeal of the act for granting and applying certain stamp duties, 
of all clauses of any other acts of parliament, whereby the juris- 
diction of the admiralty is extended as aforesaid, and of the other 
late acts for the restriction of American commerce. 



No. 36. Declaratory Act 

March 18, 1766 

The first legislative protest against the Stamp Act came from Virginia. 
May 30, 1765, the House of Burgesses adopted four resolutions, submitted by 
Patrick Henry, declaring that " The General Assembly of this colony, together 
with his Majesty or his substitutes, have, in their representative capacity, the 
only exclusive right and powder to lay taxes and imposts upon the inhabitants 
of this colony; and that every attempt to vest such power in any other person 
or persons whatever than the General Assembly aforesaid, is illegal, uncon- 
stitutional, and unjust, and have [/;(7^] a manifest tendency to destroy British 
as well as American Hberty." On the 8th of June, Massachusetts issued the 
call for the Stamp Act congress. The Rockingham ministry, which succeeded 
that of Gren villein July, wasfavorable to America; and Conway, the minister 
in charge of colonial affairs, was opposed to the policy of taxing the colonies 
without their consent. By November i, the date on which the Stamp Act 
was to go into effect, the resolutions of assemblies and public meetings, and 
the intimidation and violence of the "Sons of I^iberty" and others, had made 
the execution of the act impossible, even if stamps could have been had. A 
circular letter from Conway to the governors, dated October 24, urging them 
to do their utmost to maintain law and order, and authorizing them to call 
upon the military and naval commanders for assistance, if necessary, was 
unavailing. At the opening of Parliament, December 17, papers relating to 
affairs in America were submitted. Numerous petitions were also presented 
setting forth the losses which the Stamp Act had inflicted upon British trade. 
A resolution declaratory of the right of Parliament to tax the colonies, sub- 
mitted February 3, was adopted by large majorities. On the 6th the Lords, 
by a vote of 59 to 54, resolved in favor of executing the Stamp Act; but a 
similar proposition in the Commons was rejected by a vote of more than two 
to one. On the 12th the King announced himself favorable to modification 
of the act; while the examination of Franklin before the House of Commons 
further strengthened the argument for repeal. The repeal bill and the declar- 
atory bill passed the Commons March 4, and on the 7th the declaratory bill 
passed the Lords. The proposition to repeal the Stamp Act, however, en- 
countered strong opposition in the Lords, where ^^ members entered a pro- 



I40 DECLARATORY ACT [March i8 

test against it at the second reading, and 28 at the third; but on the 17th the 
bill passed, and the next day both acts received the royal assent. 

Referen'CES. — Text in Pickering's Statutes at Large, XXVII., 19, 20. 
The act is cited as 6 Geo. III., c. 12. The act of repeal is 6 Geo. III., c. 11. 
For the debates, see the Parliamentary History, XVI., and the Annual Regis- 
ter (1766). Franklin's examination is in his Works (Sparks's ed., IV., 161- 
198; Smyth's ed., IV., 412-448). 

An act for the better securing the dependency of his Majesty^s domin- 
ions in America upon the crown and parliament of Great Britain. 

WHEREAS several of the houses of representatives in his Maj- 
esty's colonies and plantations in America, have of late, against law, 
claimed to themselves, or to the general assemblies of the same, the 
sole and exclusive right of imposing duties and taxes upon his 
Majesty's subjects in the said colonies and plantations ; and have, 
in pursuance of such claim, passed certain votes, resolutions, and 
orders, derogatory to the legislative authority of parliament, and 
inconsistent with the dependency of the said colonies and plantations 
upon the crown of Great Britain : ... be it declared . . . , That 
the said colonies and plantations in America have been, are, and 
of right ought to be, subordinate unto, and dependent upon the 
imperial crown and parliament of Great Britain; and that the 
King's majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the lords 
spiritual and temporal, and commons of Great Britain, in parlia- 
ment assembled, had, hath, and of right ought to have, full power 
and authority to make laws and statutes of sufficient force and 
validity to bind the colonies and people of America, subjects of 
the crown of Great Britain, in all cases whatsoever. 

II. And be it further declared . . . , That all resolutions, votes, 
orders, and proceedings, in any of the said colonies or plantations, 
whereby the power and authority of the parliament of Great 
Britain, to make laws and statutes as aforesaid, is denied, or 
drawn into question, are, and are hereby declared to be, utterly 
null and void to all intents and purposes whatsoever. 



1766] ACT SUSPENDING THE NEW YORK ASSEMBLY 141 

No. 37. Act suspending the New York 
Assembly- 
June 15, 1767 

In a message to the New York House of Assembly, June 13, 1766, Gov- 
ernor Moore informed the House of the expected arrival of troops in the city, 
and recommended that provision be made for them in accordance with the 
late Quartering Act [No. 34]. On the 19th the House adopted five resolu- 
tions, reported by Philip Livingston, excusing themselves from compliance 
with the request, on the ground that the requisition was "of such a nature and 
tendency that, should it be granted, the expence might, and probably would, 
very soon exceed the ability of this colony to pay, as the number of troops 
that may from time to time require the Hke provision, are . . . entirely 
unknown.and the articles required for the greatest part . . . unprecedented;" 
but the House intimated, at the same time, that a balance of ;£3990 in the 
treasury of the province, subject to the order of the commander-in-chief of 
the forces in America, might be used for the purpose in question. On an 
inquirv from the governor as to the precise use to which the money referred to 
was to be put, the assembly again, June 23, pleaded the small resources of the 
colony, but recommended that provision be made "for furnishing the bar- 
racks in the cities of New York and Albany, with beds, bedding, fire-wood, 
candles, and utensils for dressing of victuals for two battalions, not exceeding 
five hundred men each, and one company of artillery for one year" ; and that 
the money beforementioned be drawn upon for the purpose. A bill to this 
effect was accordingly brought in and passed, and July 3 received the assent 
of the governor. A report of the action of the assembly having been made to 
the Board of Trade, the Earl of Shelburne, in a letter of August 6 to Gov- 
ernor Moore, expressed the hope that the requirements of the Quartering Act 
would be fully complied with. To this letter, communicated to the assembly 
in November, the House repUed that New York had already assumed a 
heavier financial burden in the matter of supporting troops than any other 
colony, and that, since the act appeared to them designed for the needs of 
soldiers on the march, and not of such as might be stationed in the province 
for a whole year, they could not "put it in the power of any person" to lay 
upon them such a "ruinous and unsupportable" expense. December 19 
the assembly was prorogued until the following March. May 15, 1767, the 
committee of the House of Commons to whom the matter had been referred, 
recommended the suspension of the assembly until the terms of the Quar- 
tering Act were complied with; and June 15 a bill embodying the recommen- 
dations received the royal assent. The assembly continuing obstinate, it was 
dissolved. The newly elected House also refused compliance, and was like- 
wise dissolved. A third, in 1769, made the required provision. 

References. — Text in Pickering's Statutes at Large, XXVII. , 609, 610. 



142 ACT SUSPENDING THE NEW YORK ASSEMBLY [June 15 

The act is cited as 7 Geo. III., c. 59. Extracts from the proceedings ot the 
New York legislature are in Almon's Prior Documents. 

An act for restraining and prohibiting the governor, council, and 
house of representatives, of the province ,of New York, until 
provision shall have been made for furnishing the King's troops 
with all the necessaries required by law, from passing or assenting 
to any act of assembly, vote, or resolution, for any other purpose. 

[The preamble recites the passage of the Mutiny or Quartering 
Act of 1765, continued by subsequent reenactments to March 24, 
1769;. the refusal of the New York house of representatives to 
comply with the act of 1765, and its tender of quarters and supplies 
"inconsistent with the provisions, and in opposition to the direc- 
tions," of the said act, and continues:] In order therefore to 
enforce, within the said province of New York, the supplying of 
his Majesty's troops with the necessaries and in the manner re- 
quired by the said acts of parliament; ... be it enacted . . . , 
That from and after . . . [October i, 1767,] . . . until provision 
shall have been made by the said assembly of New York for 
furnishing his Majesty's troops within the said province with all 
such necessaries as are required by the said acts of parliament, 
or any of them, to be furnished for such troops, it shall not be 
lawful for the governor, lieutenant governor, or person presiding 
or acting as governor or commander in chief, or for the council 
for the time being, within the colony, plantation, or province, of 
New York in America, to pass, or give his or their assent to, or con- 
currence in, the making or passing of any act of assembly; or his 
or their assent to any order, resolution, or vote, in concurrence 
with the house of representatives for the time being within the 
said colony, plantation, or province ; or for the said house of rep- 
resentatives to pass or make any bill, order, resolution, or vote, 
(orders, resolutions, or votes,- for adjourning such house only, 
excepted) of any kind, for any other purpose whatsoever; and 
that all acts of assembly, orders, resolutions, and votes whatsoever, 
which shall or may be passed, assented to, or made, contrary to 
the tenor and meaning of this act, after . . . [October i, 1767,] 
. . . within the said colony, plantation, or province, . . . shall be, 
and are hereby declared to be, null and void, and of no force or 
effect whatsoever. 



1767] TOWNSHEND REVENUE ACT I43 



No. 38. Townshend Revenue Act 

June 29, 1767 

In August, 1776, Pitt, now Earl of Chatham, succeeded Rockingham as 
prime minister; but illness soon incapacitated him for aclive participation in 
affairs, and the leadership fell to Townshend, chancellor of the exchequer. 
The irritation over the repeal of the Stamp Act was increased by the reports 
of continued agitation in America; while the reduction of the land tax from 
45. to 35. in the pound, brought about by factious opposition to the ministry, 
necessitated revenue from some other source. "On January 26, 1767, in a 
debate on the army, George Grenville moved that America, like Ireland, 
should support an establishment of her own; and in the course of the discus- 
sion which followed, Townshend took occasion to declare himself a firm ad- 
vocate of the principle of the Stamp Act." The plans for carrying his policy 
into effect were brought forward by Townshend in May, and embraced three 
points: the enforcement of existing laws, the appointment of customs com- 
missioners, and pro\-ision for adequate revenue. The strong opposition in 
the colonies to the Sugar .^ct had led, in 1766, to the repeal of the duties im- 
posed by that act, except the duty on tea (6 Geo. III., c. 52). In framing the 
revenue act of 1767, Townshend professed to observe the distinction urged in 
America between external and internal ta.xation, and to provide a revenue by 
means of import duties only. The proceeds of the duties, estimated at about 
;^4o,ooo, were to be applied towards the civil and military expenses of the 
colonies. Further to insure the observance of the act, writs of assistance were 
legalized. On the 4th of September Townshend died, and the execution 
of the act, which had not yet gone into operation, devolved upon his succes- 
sors. The duties imposed by the act, with the exception of the duty on tea, 
were repealed by an act of .^pril 12, 1770. 

Referen'CES. — Text in Pickering's Statutes at Large, XXVIT., 505-512. 
The act is cited as 7 Geo. III., c. 46. For the debates and proceedings see 
the Parliamentary History, XVI. Summaries of the debates, reflecting as 
usual public opinion in England, are in the Annual Register (1767). Of 
contemporary discussions in America, Dickinson's Letters from a Farmer 
{Writings, Ford's ed., I., 305-406) is the most important. The acts estab- 
lishing customs commissioners in America (7 Geo. III., c. 41) and imposing 
duties on tea ("7 Geo. III., c. 56), the other parts of Townshend's scheme, are 
in MacDonald's Select Charters, Nos. 62 and 64. The act of repeal is 10 
Geo. III., c. 17. 

An act for granting certain duties hi the British colonies and plan- 
tations in America; for alloicing a dran'back of the duties of 
customs upon the exportation, from this kingdom, of coffee and 
cocoa nuts of the produce of the said colonies or plantations; for 
discontinuing the drawbacks payable on china earthen ware 



144 TOWNSHEND REVENUE ACT [June 29 

exported to America; and for more effectually preventing the 
clandestine running of goods in the said colonies and plantations. 

WHEREAS it is expedient that a revenue should be raised, in 
your Majesty's dominions in America, for making a more certain 
and adequate provision for defraying the charge of the administra- 
tion of justice, and the support of civil government, in such prov- 
inces where it shall be found necessary; and towards further 
defraying the expences of defending, protecting, and securing the 
said dominions; ... be it enacted . . . , That from and after 
. . . [November 20, 1767,] . . . there shall be raised, levied, 
collected, and paid, unto his Majesty, his heirs, and successors, 
for and upon the respective Goods herein after mentioned, which 
shall be imported from Great Britain into any colony or plantation 
in America which now is, or hereafter may be, under the dominion 
of his Majesty . . . , the several Rates and Duties following ; 
that is to say. 

For every hundred weight avoirdupois of crown, plate, flint, 
and white glass, four shillings and eight pence. 

For every hundred weight avoirdupois of green glass, one 
shilling and two pence. 

For every hundred weight avoirdupois of red lead, two shil- 
lings. 

For every hundred weight avoirdupois of white lead, two shil- 
lings. 

For every hundred weight avoirdupois of ])ainters colours, two 
shillings. 

For every pound weight avoirdupois of tea, three pence. 

For every ream of paper, usually called or known by the name 
of Atlas fine, twelve shillings. 

[Then follow specifications of duties on sixty-six grades or 

classes of paper.] 

******** 

IV. . . . and that all the monies that shall arise by the said 
duties (except the necessary charges of raising, collecting, levy- 
ing, recovering, answering, paying, and accounting for the same) 
shall be applied, in the first place, in such manner as is herein 
after mentioned, in making a more certain and adequate pro- 
vision for the charge of the administration of justice, and the 



1767] TOWNSHEND REVENUE ACT I45 

,su|)])()rt of civil government, in such of the said colonies and 
])lantations where it shall be found necessary; and that the residue 
of such duties shall he paid into the receij)t of his Majesty's 
exchequer, and shall be entered separate and apart from all other 
monies paid or payable to his Majesty . . . ; and shall be there 
reserved, to be from time to time disposed of by parliament 
towards defraying the necessary expences of defending, pro- 
tecting, and securing, the British colonies and plantations in 
A merica. 

VI. And whereas the allowing a drawback of all the duties oj 
customs upon the exportation, from this kingdom, of cojfec and cocoa 
nuts, the gnnuth of the British dominion.^ in America, may be a 
means of encouraging the groivth of coffee and cocoa in the said 
dominions; be it therefore enacted . . . , That from and after 
. . . [November 20, 1767] . . . , upon the ex|)ortation of any 
coffee or cocoa nuts, of the growth or ])r()duce of any British colony 
or plantation in America, from this kingdom as merchandize, the 
whole duties of customs, payable upon the importation of such 
coffee or cocoa nuts, shall be drawn back and repaid; in such 
manner, and under such rules, regulations, penalties, and for- 
feitures, as any drawback or allowance, payable out of the duties 
of customs ujxjn the exportation of such coffee or cocoa nuts, 
was, could, or might be paid, before the passing of this act. . . . 

VIT. And it is hereby further enacted . . . , That no drawback 
shall be allowed for any china earthen ware sold, after the pass- 
ing of this act, at the sale of the united comj)any of merchants 
of England trading to the East Indies, which shall be entered for 
exportation from Great Britain to any part of America. . . . 

X. And whereas by . . . [the explanatory Navigation Act of 
1662] . . . and several other acts now in force, it is lawful jar any 
officer of his Majesty^s customs, authorized by writ of assistance 
ttnder the seal of his Majesty's court of exchequer, to take a constable, 
headborough, or other publick officer inhabiting near unto the place, 
and in the day-time to enter and go into any house, shop, cellar, 
warehouse, or room or other place, and, in case of resistance, to break 
open doors, chests, trunks, and other package there, to seize, and 
from thence to bring, any kind of goods or merchandize whatsoever 



146 MASSACHUSETTS CIRCULAR LETTER [February- 11 

prohibited or uncustomed, and to put and secure the same in his 
Majesty's store-house next to the place where such seizure shall be 
made: and whereas by . . . [the Navigation Act of 1696] . . . it 
is, amongst other things, enacted, that the officers for collecting and 
managing his Majesty's revenue, and inspecting the plantation 
trade, in America, shall have the same powers and authorities to 
enter houses or warehouses, to search for and seize goods prohibited 
to he imported or exported into or out of any of the said planta- 
tions, or for which any duties are payable, or ought to have been 
paid; and that the like assistance shall be given to the said officers 
in the execution of their office, as, by the said recited act of the four- 
teenth year of King Sharks the Second, is provided for the officers 
in England : but, no authority being expressly given by the said act 
. . . of King William the third, to any particular court to grant 
such writs of assistance for the officers of the customs in the said 
plantations, it is doubted whether such officers can legally enter 
houses and other places on land, to search for and seize goods, in the 
manner directed by the said recited acts: To obviate which doubts 
for the future, and in order to carry the intention of the said 
recited acts into effectual execution, be it enacted . . . , That 
from and after . . . [November 20, 1767,] . . . such writs of 
assistance, to authorize and impower the officers of his Majesty's 
customs to enter and go into any house ... or other place, in 
the British colonies or plantations in America, to search for and 
seize prohibited or uncustomed goods . . . , shall and may be 
granted by the said superior or supreme court of justice having 
jurisdiction within such colony or plantation respectively, 
******** 



No. 39. Massachusetts Circular Letter 

February 11, 1768 

The General Court of Massachusetts met Dec. 30, 1767. The address of 
Governor Bernard dealt with the question of the boundaries between Massa- 
chusetts and New York and New Hampshire and Maine, and did not men- 
tion the Townshend acts. The acts were, however, read in the House, and 
the consideration of them referred to a committee of nine on the state of the 
province. On the 1 2th of January the committee reported a draft of a letter 



1768] MASSACHUSETTS CIRCULAR LETTER 147 

to Dennis De Berdt, agent of the colony in England, reviewing the arguments 
against taxation by Great Britain, and protesting against the recent acts as 
unjust and unwarranted. Subsequently a petition to the King, and letters to 
Shelburne, Rockingham, Camden, Chatham, Conway, and the Commis- 
sioners of the Treasury, were adopted. On the 21st of January a motion 
"to appoint a time to consider the expediency of writing to the assemblies of 
the other colonies on this continent, with respect to the importance of their 
joining with them in petitioning his Majesty at this time," was rejected; but 
on Feb. 4 the motion was reconsidered, and a committee appointed "to pre- 
pare a letter to be sent to each of the Houses of Representatives and Bur- 
gesses on the continent, to inform them of the measures which this House has 
taken with regard to the diflficulties arising from the acts of Parliament for 
levying duties and taxes on the American colonists." The letter, drawn up by 
Samuel Adams, was reported on the nth and adopted. The letter was laid 
before the cabinet April 15, by Lord Hillsborough, secretary of state for the 
colonies. A letter from Hillsborough to the governors of the several colonies, 
April 21, called upon them to exert their " utmost influence" to prevent the 
various assemblies from taking action on the Massachusetts circular; while 
a communication to Governor Bernard, of the following day, instructed him 
to require the assembly to rescind the resolution under which the circular 
letter was issued, and, in case of refusal, to dissolve them. On the 30th of 
June, after adopting a letter to Hillsborough defending their action, the 
House by a vote of 92 to 17, refused to rescind. The next day the General 
Court was dissolved. 

References. — Text in Bradford's Massachusetts State Papers, 134-136; 
the same work gives the other Massachusetts letters and documents referred 
to above. Almon's Prior Documents, 220, gives Hillsborough's letter to the 
governors; 203-205, extracts from the letter to Bernard; 213-218, replies of 
other colonies to the circular letter. 

Province of Massachusetts Bay, February 11, 1768. 
SIR, 

The House of Representatives of this province, have taken 
into their serious consideration, the great difficulties that must 
accrue to themselves and their constituents, by the operation of 
several acts of Parliament, imposing duties and taxes on the 
American colonies. 

As it is a subject in which every colony is deeply interested, 
they have no reason to doubt but your House is deeply impressed 
with its importance, and that such constitutional measures will 
be come into, as are proper. It seems to be necessary, that all 
possible care should be taken, that the representatives of the 
several assemblies, upon so delicate a point, should harmonize 
with each other. The House, therefore, hope that this letter will 



148 MASSACHUSETTS CIRCULAR LETTER [February ir 

be candidly considered in no other light then as expressing a 
disposition freely to communicate their mind to a sister colony, 
upon a common concern, in the same manner as they would be 
glad to receive the sentiments of your or any other House of 
Assembly on the continent. 

The House have humbly represented to the ministry, their own 
sentiments, that his Majesty's high court of Parliament is the 
supreme legislative power over the whole empire; that in all free 
states the constitution is fixed, and as the supreme legislative 
derives its power and authority from the constitution, it cannot 
overleap the bounds of it, without destroying its own foundation; 
that the constitution ascertains and limits both sovereignty and 
allegiance, and, therefore, his Majesty's American subjects, who 
acknowledge themselves bound by the ties of allegiance, have an 
equitable claim to the full enjoyment of the fundamental rules of 
the British constitution; that it is an essential, unalterable right, 
in nature, engrafted into the British constitution, as a funda- . 
mental law, and ever held sacred and irrevocable by the subjects 
within the realm, that what a man has honestly acquired is abso- 
lutely his own, which he may freely give, but cannot be taken 
from him without his consent; that the American subjects may, 
therefore, exclusive of any consideration of charter rights, with 
a decent firmness, adapted to the character of free men and sub- 
jects, assert this natural and constitutional right. 

It is, moreover, their humble opinion, which they express with 
the greatest deference to the wisdom of the Parliament, that the 
acts made there, imposing duties on the people of this province, 
with the sole and express purpose of raising a revenue, are in- 
fringements of their natural and constitutional rights; because, 
as they are not represented in the British Parliament, his Majesty's 
Commons in Britain, by those acts, grant their property without 
their consent. 

This House further are of opinion, that their constituents, 
considering their local circumstances, cannot, by any possibility, 
be represented in the Parliament; and that it will forever be 
impracticable, that they should be equally represented there, and 
consequently, not at all ; being separated by an ocean of a thou- 
sand leagues. That his Majesty's royal predecessors, for this 
reason, were graciously pleased to form a subordinate legislature 



1768] MASSACHUSETTS CIRCULAR LETTER 149 

here, that their subjects might enjoy the unaHenable right of a 
representation: also, that considering the utter impracticabihty 
of their ever being fully and equally represented in Parliament, 
and the great expense that mustjunavoidably attend even a partial 
representation there, this House think that a taxation of their 
constituents, even without their consent, grievous as it is, would 
be preferable to any representation that could be admitted for 
them there. 

Upon these principles, and also considering that were the right 
in Parliament ever so clear, yet, for obvious reasons, it would be 
beyond the rules of equity that their constituents should be taxed, 
on the manufactures of Great Britain here, in addition to the 
duties they pay for them in England, and other advantages aris- 
ing to Great Britain, from the acts of trade, this House have 
preferred a humble, dutiful, and loyal petition, to our most gra- 
cious sovereign, and made such representations to his Majesty's 
ministers, as they apprehended would tend to obtain redress. 

They have also submitted to consideration, whether any people 
can be said to enjoy any degree of freedom, if the Crown, in addi- 
tion to its undoubted authority of constituting a Governor, should 
appoint him such a stipend as it may judge proper, without the 
consent of the people, and at their expense; and whether, while 
the judges of the land, and other civil officers, hold not their com- 
missions during good behaviour, their having salaries appointed 
for them by the Crown, independent of the people, hath not a 
tendency to subvert the principles of equity, and endanger the hap- 
piness and security of the subject. 

In addition to these measures, the House have written a letter 
to their agent, which he is directed to lay before the ministry; 
wherein they take notice of the hardships of the act for prevent- 
ing mutiny and desertion, which requires the Governor and 
Council to provide enumerated articles for the King's marching 
troops, and the people to pay the expenses; and also, the com- 
mission of the gentlemen appointed commissioners of the cus- 
toms, to reside in America, which authorizes them to make as 
many appointments as they think fit, and to pay the appointees 
what sum they please, for whose mal-conduct they are not account- 
able; from whence it may happen, that officers of the Crown 
may be multiplied to such a degree as to become dangerous to 



150 BOSTON PORT ACT [March 31 

the liberty of the people, by virtue of a commission, which does not 
appear to this House to derive any such advantages to trade as 
many have supposed. 

These are the sentiments and proceedings of this House; and 
as they have too much reason to believe that the enemies of the 
colonies have represented them to his Majesty's ministers, and 
to the Parliament, as factious, disloyal, and having a disposition 
to make themselves independent of the mother country, they have 
taken occasion, in the most humble terms, to assure his Majesty, 
and his ministers, that, with regard to the people of this province, 
and, as they doubt not, of all the colonies, the charge is unjust. 
The House is fully satisfied, that your Assembly is too generous 
and liberal in sentiment, to believe that this letter proceeds from 
an ambition of taking the lead, or dictating to the other assemblies. 
They freely submit their opinions to the judgment of others; 
and shall take it kind in your House to point out to them any 
thing further, that may be thought necessary. 

This House cannot conclude, without expressing their firm 
confidence in the King, our common head and father; that the 
united and dutiful supplications of his distressed American sub- 
jects, will meet with his royal and favorable acceptance. 



No. 40. Boston Port Act 

March 31, 1774 

By the Townshend Revenue Act [No. 38], a duty of 3(/. per pound was 
imposed upon tea imported into the American colonies from Great Britain ; 
but by the Tea Act of the same year the inland duty of is. per pound was taken 
off for five years, and a drawback allowed, on tea exported to America, of the 
entire customs duty payable on its importation into England. The duties 
imposed by the Revenue Act, except that on tea, were repealed in 1770. But 
the colonies would not buy tea shipped from England, and most of the tea 
consumed in America was smuggled in through the agency of the Dutch East 
India Company. To relieve the British East India Company from certain 
financial difficulties, an act was passed in May, 1773, again allowing a draw- 
back of the duties payable on importation into England, in case the tea was 
shipped to .A.merica; the tax of T,d. per pound, however, still remaining as an 
assertion of the principle of the Declaratory Act of 1766 [No. 36]. Upon the 
passage of the act of 1773, large quantities of tea were sent to America, but 



1774] BOSTON PORT ACT 151 

the importation was generally resisted. The most violent opposition was 
manifested in Boston, where, on the night of Dec. 16, the ships laden with tea 
were boarded by citizens disguised as Indians, and the tea thrown into the 
harbor. 

Papers relating to the disturbances in America, and especially the proceed- 
ings at Boston, were laid before Parliament March 7, 1774, accompanied by a 
royal message urging the adoption of measures to end the disorder and secure 
obedience to the laws. On the 14th Lord North, in the House of Commons, 
asked and obtained leave to bring in a bill to remove the custom house officers 
from Boston, and to close that port to commerce. A petition from William 
Bollan, agent for Massachusetts, praying to be heard in behalf of that colony, 
was laid on the table. The bill was brought in on the iSth, had its second 
reading on the 21st, and passed on the 25th without a division. It was taken 
up to the Lords the following day, and passed that House, without a division, 
on the 30th. March 31 the act received the royal assent. The petition of 
Bollan was finally rejected by the Commons on the 25th, by a vote of 40 to 
170; but he was heard in the Lords on the 30th, before the final vote on the 
bill. The act was repealed by the prohibitory act of Dec. 22, 1775. 

References. — Text in Pickering's Statutes at Large, XXX., 336-341. 
The act is cited as 14 Geo. III., c. 19. For the debates in ParHament, see 
the Parliamentary History, XVII., or Force's American Archives, Fourth 
Series, I., 5-61; cf. also the Annual Register (1774). The report of the 
committee of the Lords on the disturbances in Massachusetts is in Force, and 
also in Almon's Prior Documents, 232-255. Franklin's True State of the 
Proceedings, etc. {Works, Sparks's ed., IV., 466-515), is a skilful counter- 
presentation. 

An act to discontinue, in such manner, and for such time as are 
therein mentioned, the landing and discharging, lading or ship- 
ping, of goods, wares, and merchandise, at the town, and within 
'he harbour, of Boston, in the province of Massachuset's Bay, in 
North America. 

WHEREAS dangerous commotions and insurrections have been 
fomented and raised in the town of Boston, in the province of Massa- 
chuset's Bay, in New England, by divers ill-affected persons, to 
the subversion of his Majesty's government, and to the utter de- 
struction of the piiblick peace, and good order of the said town; in 
which commotions and insurrections certain valuable cargoes of 
teas, being the property of the East India Company, and on board 
certain vessels lying within the bay or harbour of Boston, were 
seized and destroyed: And whereas, in the present condition of the 
said town and harbour, the commerce of his Majesty's subjects 
cannot be safely carried on there, nor the customs payable to his 



152 BOSTON PORT ACT [March 31 

Majesty duly collected; and it is therefore expedient that the officers 
0/ his Majesty's customs should be forthwith removed from the said 
town: . . . be it enacted . . . , That from and after . . . [June 
I, 1774,] ... it shall not be lawful for any person or persons 
whatsoever to lade, put, or cause or procure to be laden or put, ofT 
or from any quay, wharf, or other place, within the said town of 
Boston, or in or upon any part of the shore of the bay, commonly 
called The Harbour of Boston, between a certain headland or point 
called Nahant Point, on the eastern side of the entrance into the 
said bay, and a certain other headland or point called .4 Wer/ow 
Point, on the western side of the entrance into the said bay, or in 
or upon any island, creek, landing-place, bank, or other place, 
within the said bay or headlands, into any ship, vessel, lighter, 
boat, or bottom, any goods, wares, or merchandise whatsoever, to 
be transported or carried into any other country, province, or 
place whatsoever, or into any other part of the said province 
of the Massachusetts Bay, in New England; or to take up, dis- 
charge, or lay on land, or cause or procure to be taken up, dis- 
charged, or laid on land, within the said town, or in or upon any 
of the places aforesaid, out of any boat, lighter, ship, vessel, or 
bottom, any goods, wares, or merchandise whatsoever, to be 
brought from any other country, province, or place, or any other 
part of the said province of the Massachusetts Bay in New Eng- 
land, upon pain of the forfeiture of the said goods, wares, and 
merchandise, and of the said boat, lighter, ship, vessel, or other 
bottom into which the same shall be put, or out of which the same 
shall be taken, and of the guns, ammunition, tackle, furniture, and 
stores, in or belonging to the same : And if any such goods, wares, 
or merchandise, shall, within the said town, or in any the places 
aforesaid, be laden or taken in from the shore into any barge, 
hoy, lighter, wherry, or boat, to be carried on board any ship or 
vessel outward-bound to any other country or province, or other 
part of the said province of the Massachusetts Bay in New Eng- 
land, or be laden or taken into such barge, hoy, lighter, wherry 
or boat, from or out of any ship or vessel coming in and arriving 
from any other country or province, or other part of the said prov- 
ince of the Massachusetts Bay in New England, such barge, 
hoy, lighter, wherry, or boat, shall be forfeited and lost. 



1774] BOSTON PORT ACT 1 53 

III. And be it further enacted . . . , That if any ship or vessel 
shall be moored or lie at anchor, or be seen hovering within the 
said bay, described and bounded as aforesaid, or within one 
league from the said bay so described, or the said headlands, or 
any of the islands lying between or within the same, it shall and 
may be lawful for any admiral, chief commander, or commis- 
sioned officer, of his Majesty's fleet or ships of war, or for any 
officer of his Majesty's customs, to compel such ship or vessel to 
depart to some other port or harbour, or to such station as the 
said officer shall appoint, and to use such force for that purpose 
as shall be found necessary : And if such ship or vessel shall not 
depart accordingly, within six hours after notice for that purpose 
given by such person as aforesaid, such ship or vessel, together 
with all the goods laden on board thereon, and all the guns, am- 
munition, tackle, and furniture, shall be forfeited and lost, whether 
bulk shall have been broken or not. 

IV. Provided always. That nothing in this act contained shall 
extend, or be construed to extend, to any mihtary or other stores 
for his Majesty's use, or to the ships or vessels whereon the same 
shall be laden . . . ; nor to any fuel or victual brought coastwise 
from any part of the continent of America, for the necessary use 
and sustenance of the inhabitants of the said town of Boston, pro- 
vided the vessel wherein the same are to be carried shall be duly 
furnished with a cocket and let-pass, after having been duly searched 
by the proper officers of his Majesty's customs at Marblehead, in the 
port of Salem, in the said province of Massachusetts Bay . . . ; 
nor to any ships or vessels which may happen to be within the said 
harbour of Boston on or before . . . [June i, 1774,] . . . and 
may have either laden or taken on board, or be there with intent to 
load or take on board, or to land or discharge any goods, wares, 
and merchandise, provided the said ships and vessels do depart 
the said harbour within fourteen days after the said . . . [June i , 
1774]. . . . 

VIII. And be it further enacted . . . , That whenever it shall 
be made to appear to his Majesty, in his privy council, that peace 
and obedience to the laws shall be so far restored in the said town 
of Boston, that the trade of Great Britain may safely be carried 
on there, and his Majesty's customs duly collected, and his Majesty, 



154 BOSTON PORT ACT [March 3, 

in his privy council, shall adjudge the same to be true, it shall and 
may be lawful for his Majesty, by proclamation, or order of coun- 
cil, to assign and appoint the extent, bounds, and limits, of the port 
or harbour of Boston, and of every creek or haven within the same, 
or in the islands within the precincts thereof; and also to assign 
and appoint such and so many open places, quays, and wharfs, 
within the said harbour, creeks, havens, and islands, for the landing, 
discharging, lading, and shipping of goods, as his Majesty . . . 
shall judge necessary and expedient; and also to appoint such and 
so many officers of the customs therein as his Majesty shall think 
fit; after which it shall.be lawful for any person or persons to lade 
or put off from, or to discharge and land upon, such wharfs, quays, 
and places, so appointed within the said harbour, and none other, 
any goods, wares, and merchandise whatever. 

******** 

X. Provided also, and it is hereby declared and enacted. That 
nothing herein contained shall extend, or be construed, to enable 
his Majesty to appoint such port, harbour, creeks, quays, wharfs, 
places, or officers, in the said town of Boston, or in the said bay or 
islands, until it shall sufficiently appear to his Majesty that full 
satisfaction hath been made by or on behalf of the inhabitants of 
the said town of Boston to the united company of merchants of 
England trading to the East Indies, for the damage sustained by 
the said company by the destruction of their goods sent to the 
said town of Boston, on board certain ships or vessels as aforesaid ; 
and until it shall be certified to his Majesty, in council, by the 
governor, or lieutenant governor, of the said province, that reason- 
able satisfaction hath been made to the officers of his Majesty's 
revenue, and others, who suffered by the riots and insurrections 
above mentioned, in the months of November and December, in 
the year one thousand seven hundred and seventy-three, and in 
the month of January, in the year one thousand seven hundred 
and seventy-four. 

******** 



1774] MASSACHUSETTS GOVERNMENT ACT 155 



No. 41. Massachusetts Government Act 

May 20, 1774 

March 28, 1774, Lord Nort'i moved in the House of Commons for leave to 
bring in a bill "for the better regulating the government of the Province of. 
Massachusetts Bay." Leave was given, and April 15 the bill was presented. 
The bill had its second reading on the 22d, and May 2, after spirited debate, 
was ordered to its third reading by a vote of 239 to 64, and passed. A peti- 
tion from Bollan, April 28, for delay until he could hear from Massachusetts, 
was refused, the vote being 32 to 95. Ths bill had its second reading in the 
Lords May 6; on the nth, by a vote of 92 to 20, the third reading was 
ordered, and the bill, with some amendments, passed. Eleven Lords en- 
tered a protest against the bill. On the 13th the Commons agreed to the 
amendments of the Lords, and on the 20th the act received the royal assent. 

References. — Text in Pickering's Statutes at Large, XXX., 381-390. 
The act is cited as 14 Geo. III., c. 45. For the debates, see the Parliamen- 
tary History, XVII., or Force's American Archives, Fourth Series, I., 
66-104; see also the Annual Register (1774). 

An act for the better regulating the government of the province of 

the Massachuset's Bay, in New England. 

[The act recites the provision of the charter regarding the elec- 
tion of councillors, and continues:] 

And whereas the said method of electing such counsellors or assist- 
ants, to be vested with the several powers, authorities, and privileges, 
therein mentioned, although conformable to the practice theretofore 
used in such of the colonies thereby united, in which the appointment 
of the respective governors had been vested in the general courts or 
assembles of the said colonies, hath, by repeated experience, been 
found to be extremely ill adapted to the plan of government estab- 
lished in the province of the Massachuset's Bay . . . , and hath 
been so far from contributing to the attainment of the good ends and 
purposes thereby intended, and to the promoting of the internal wel- 
fare, peace, and good government, of the said province, or to the 
maintenance of the just subordination to, and conformity with, the 
laws of Great Britain, that the manner of exercising the powers, 
authorities, and privileges aforesaid, by the persons so annually 
elected, hath, for some time past, been such as had the most manifest 
tendency to obstruct, and, in great measure, defeat, the execution of 
the laws; to weaken the attachment of his Majesty's well-disposed 



156 MASSACHUSETTS GOVERNMENT ACT [May 20 

subjects in the said province to his Majesty^s government, and to 
encourage the ill-disposed among them to proceed even to acts 0/ 
direct resistance to, and defiance of, his Majesty'' s authority: And 
it hath accordingly happened, that an open resistance to the execu- 
tion of the laws hath actually taken place in the town of Boston, and 
the neighbourhood thereof, within the said Province: And whereas 
it is, under these circumstances, •become absolutely necessary, in 
order to the presentation of the peace and good order of the said 
province, the protection of his Majesty^s well-disposed subjects 
therein resident, the continuance of the mutual benefits arising from 
the commerce and correspondence between this kingdom and the said 
province, and the maintaining of the just dependence of the said 
province upon the crown and parliament of Great Britain, that the 
said method of annually electing the counsellors or assistants of the . 
said Province should no longer be sufi'ered to continue, hut that the 
appointment of the said counsellors or assistants should henceforth be 
put upon the like footing as is established in such other of his Maj- 
esty's colonies or plantations in America, the governors whereof are 
appointed by his Majesty's commission, under the great seal of 
Great Britain : Be it therefore enacted . . . , that from and after 
. , . [August I, 1774,] ... so much of the charter ... [of 
1 691] . . , and all and every clause, matter, and thing, therein 
contained, which relates to the time and manner of electing the 
assistants or counsellors for the said province, be revoked, and is 
hereby revoked and made void and of none effect; and that the 
offices of all counsellors and assistants, elected and appointed in 
pursuance thereof, shall from thenceforth cease and determine: 
And that, from and after the said . . . fAugust i, 1774,] . . • 
the council, or court of assistants of the said province for the time 
being, shall be composed of such of the inhabitants or proprietors 
of lands within the same as shall be thereunto nominated and 
appointed by his IMajesty . . . , from time to time, by warrant 
under his or their signet or sign manual, and with the advice of 
the privy council, agreeable to the practice now used in respect to 
the appointment of counsellors in such of his Majesty's other 
colonies in America, the governors whereof are appointed by com- 
mission under the great seal of Great Britain: provided, that the 
number of the said assistants or counsellors shall not, at any one 
time, exceed thirty-six, nor be less than twelve. 



1774] MASSACHUSETTS GOVERNMENT ACT 157 

II. And it is hereby further enacted, That the said assistants 
or counsellors, so to be appointed as aforesaid, shall hold their 
officesrespectively, for and during the pleasure of his Majesty . . . ; 
and shall have and enjoy all the powers, privileges, and immunities, 
at present held, exercised, and enjoyed, by the assistants or coun- 
sellors of the said province, constituted and elected, from time to 
time, under the said charter (except as herein-after excepted) . . . 

III. And be it further enacted . . . , That from and after . . . 
[July I, 1774,] ... it shall and may be lawful for his Majesty's 
governor for the time being of the said province, or, in his absence, 
for the lieutenant-governor, to nominate and appoint, under the 
seal of the province, from time to time, and also to remove, without 
the consent of the council, all judges of the inferior courts of com- 
mon pleas, commissioners of Oyer and Terminer, the attorney 
general, provosts, marshals, justices af the peace, and other officers 
to the council or courts of justice belonging; and that all . . . 
[the said officers] . . . , and other officers so appointed . . . , 
shall and may have, hold, and exercise, their said offices, powers, 
and authorities, as fully and completely, to all intents and pur- 
poses, as any judges of the inferior courts of common pleas, com- 
missioners of Oyer and Terminer, attorney general, provosts, 
marshals, or other officers, have or might have done heretofore 
under the said letters patent . . . 

IV. [Provided, that the foregoing shall not be construed to 
annul any commission granted prior to July i, 1774.] 

V. And be it further enacted . . . , That, from and after . . . 
[July I, 1774] . . . , it shall and may be lawfu] for his Majesty's 
governor, or, in his absence, for the lieutenant-governor . . . , 
to nominate and appoint the sheriflfs without the consent of the 
council, and to remove such sheriffs with such consent, and not 
otherwise. 

VI. And be it further enacted . . . , That, upon every vacancy 
of the offices of chief justice and judges of the superior court of 
the said province, from and after . . . [July i, 1774] . . . , the 
governor for the time being, or, in his absence, the lieutenant- 
governor, without the consent of the council, shall have full power 
and authority to nominate and appoint the persons to succeed to 
the said offices, who shall hold their commissions during the 
pleasure of his Majesty . . . ; and that neither the chief justice 



158 MASSACHUSETTS GOVERNMENT ACT [May 20 

or judges appointed before . . . [July i, 1774] . . . , nor those 
who shall hereafter be appointed pursuant to this act, shall be 
removed, unless by the order of his Majesty. . . . 

VII. And wJiereas, by several acts of the general court, which 
have been from time to time enacted and passed within the said 
province, the freeholders and inhabitants of the several townships, 
districts, and precincts, qualified, as is therein expressed, are author- 
ized to assemble together, annually, or occasionally, upon notice 
given, in such manner as the said acts direct, for the choice of select- 
men, constables, and other officers, and for the snaking and agreeing 
upon such necessary rules, orders, and bye-laws, for the directing, 
managing, and ordering, the prudential affairs of such townships, 
districts, and precincts, and for other purposes: and whereas a great 
abuse has been made of the power of calling such meetings, and the 
inhabitants have, contrary to the design of their institution, been 
misled to treat upon matters of the most general concern, and to pass 
many dangerous and unwarrantable resolves: for remedy whereof, 
be it enacted, that from and after . . . [August i, 1774,] . . . 
no meeting shall be called by the select men, or at the request of 
any number of freeholders of any township, district, or precinct, 
without the leave of the governor, or, in his absence, of the lieutenant- 
governor, in writing, expressing the special business of the said 
meeting, first had and obtained, except the annual meeting in the 
months of March or May, for the choice of select men, constables, 
and other officers, or except for the choice of persons to fill up the 
offices aforesaid, on the death or removal of any of the persons 
first elected to such offices, and also, except any meeting for the 
election of a representative or representatives in the general court ; 
and that no other matter shall be treated of at such meetings, except 
the election of their aforesaid officers or rei)resentatives, nor at any 
other meeting, except the business expressed in the leave given 
by the governor, or, in his absence, by the lieutenant-governor. 

VIII. And whereas the method at present used in the province 
of Massachuset's Bay, in America, of electing persons to serve on 
grand juries, and other juries, by the freeholders and inhabitants 
of the several towns, affords occasion for many evil practices, and 
tends to pervert the free and impartial administration of justice: 
for remedy whereof, be it further enacted . . . , That from and 
after the respective times appointed for the holding of the general 



1774] ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE ACT 159 

sessions of the peace in the several counties within the said prov- 
ince, next after . . . [September, 1774,] . . . the jurors to serve 
at the superior courts of judicature, courts of assize, general gaol 
delivery, general sessions of the peace, and inferior court of com- 
mon pleas, in the several counties within the said province, shall 
not be elected, nominated, or appointed, by the freeholders and 
inhabitants of the several towns within the said respective counties, 
nor summoned or returned by the constables of the said towns ; but 
that, from thenceforth, the jurors to serve at . . . [the said courts] 
. . . shall be summoned and returned by the sheriffs of the re- 
spective counties within the said province . . . 



No. 42. Administration of Justice Act 

May 20, 1774 

April 15, 1774, the bill for .regulating the government of Massachusetts 
having been presented in the House of Commons, Lord North moved for 
leave to bring in, "as the last measure that Parliament will take," a bill "for 
the impartial administration of justice, in the cases of persons questioned for 
any acts done by them in the execution of the laws, or for the suppression of 
the riots and tumults," in the Massachusetts colony. Leave being given, the 
bill was brought in on the 21st, had its second reading on the 25th, and May 6 
passed, by a vote of 127 to 24. On the 9th it was carried up to the Lords, 
where it was read a second time on the 13th, and on the i8th passed, the 
vote being 43 to 12. Eight members of the Lords entered a protest against 
the bill. May 20 the act received the royal assent. Throughout the debate 
the attendance in each house was small. 

References. — Text in Pickering's Statutes at Large, XXX., 367-371. 
The act is cited as 14 Geo. III., c. 39. The debates are in the Parliamen- 
tary History, XVII., and Force's American Archives, Fourth Series, I., 
111-129; see also the Annual Register (1774). 

A n act for the impartial administration of justice in the cases of 
persons questioned for any acts done by them in the execution of 
the law, or for the suppression of riots and tumults, in the prov- 
ince of the Massachuset's Bay, in New England. 

WHEREAS in his Majesty's province of Massachuset's Bay, in 
New England, an attempt hath lately been made to throw off the 
authority of the parliament of Great Britain over the said province, 



l6o ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE ACT [May 20 

and an actual and avowed resistance, by open force, to the execu- 
tion of certain acts of parliament, hath been suffered to take place, 
imcontrouled and unpunished, in defiance of his Majesty s author- 
ity, and to the utter subversion of all lawful government: and 
whereas, in the present disordered state of the said province, it is 
of the utmost importance to the general welfare thereof, and to the 
re-establishment of lawful authority throughout the same, that 
neither the magistrates acting in support of the laws, nor any of 
his Majesty's subjects aiding and assisting them therein, or in the 
suppression of riots and tumults, raised in opposition to the execu- 
tion of the laws and statutes of this realm, should be discouraged 
from the proper discharge of their duty, by an apprehension, that 
in case of their being questioned for any acts done therein, they may 
be liable to be brought to trial for the same before persons who do 
not acknowledge the validity of the laws, in the execution thereof, 
or the authority of the magistrate in support of whom, such acts 
had been done: in order therefore to remove every such discourage- 
ment from the minds of his Majesty's subjects, and to induce them, 
upon all proper occasions, to exert themselves in support of the 
public peace of the province, and of the authority of the King and 
Parliament of Great Britain over the same; be it enacted . . . , 
That if any inquisition or indictment shall be found, or if any 
appeal shall be sued or preferred against any person, for murther, 
or other capital offence, in the province of the Massachuscfs Bay, 
and it shall appear, by information given upon oath to the gover- 
nor ... [or lieutenant governor] ... of the said province, that the 
fact was committed by the person against whom such inquisition 
or indictment shall be found, or against whom such appeal shall 
be sued or preferred, as aforesaid, either in the execution of his 
duty as a magistrate, for the suppression of riots, or in the support 
of the laws of revenue, or in acting in his duty as an officer of 
revenue, or in acting under the direction and order of any magis- 
trate, for the suppression of riots, or for the carrying into effect 
the laws of revenue, or in aiding and assisting in any of the cases 
aforesaid; and if it shall also appear, to the satisfaction of the said 
governor . . . that an indifferent trial cannot be had within the 
said province, in that case, it shall and may be lawful for the gov- 
ernor . . , to direct, with the advice and consent of the council, 
that the inquisition, indictment, or appeal, shall be tried in some 



1774] ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE ACT i6l 

other of his Majesty's colonies, or in Great Britain; and for that 
purpose, to order the person against whom such inquisition or in- 
dictment shall be found, or against whom such appeal shall be 
sued or preferred, as aforesaid, to be sent, under sufficient custody, 
to the place appointed for his trial, or to admit such person to 
bail, taking a recognizance . . . from such person, with sufficient 
sureties, to be approved of by the said governor . . . , in such 
sums of money as the said governor . . . shall deem reasonable, 
for the personal appearance of such person, if the trial shall be 
appointed to be had in any other colony, before the governor, or 
lieutenant-governor, or commander in chief of such colony; and 
if the trial shall be appointed to be had in Great Britain, then before 
his Majesty's court of King's Bench, at a time to be mentioned in 
such recognizances; and the governor, or lieutenant-governor, 
or commander in chief of the colony where such trial shall be ap- 
pointed to be had, or court of King's Bench, where the trial is 
appointed be had in Great Britain, upon the appearance of such 
person, according to such recognizance, or in custody, shall either 
commit such person, or admit him to bail, until such trial . . . 

II. And, to prevent a failure of justice, from the want of evi- 
dence on the trial of any such inquisition, indictment or appeal, 
be it further enacted. That the governor ... is hereby authorised 
and required, to bind in recognizances to his Majesty all such wit- 
nesses as the prosecutor or person against whom such inquisition or 
indictment shall be found, or appeal sued or preferred, shall desire 
to attend the trial of the said inquisition, indictment, or appeal, 
for their personal appearance, at the time and place of such trial, 
to give evidence: and the said governor . . . shall thereupon 
appoint a reasonable sum to be allowed for the expences of every 
such witness . . , 

V. And be it further enacted . . . , That where it shall be 
made appear to the judges or justices of any court, within the 
said province of Massachuset's Bay, by any person [charged with 
crimes as aforesaid], that he intends to make application to the 
governor . . . that such inquisition, indictment, or appeal, may be 
tried in some other of his Majesty's colonies, or in Great Britain, the 
said judges or justices are hereby authorised and required to ad- 
journ or postpone the trial of such inquisition, indictment, or appeal, 



l62 DECLARATION AND RESOLVES [October 14 

for a reasonable time, and admit the person to bail, in order that he 
may make application to the governor . . . for the purpose afore- 
said. 



No. 43. Declaration and Resolves of the 
First Continental Congress 

October 14, 1774 

June 17, 1774, the Massachusetts House of Representatives, under the 
leadership of Samuel Adams, resolved : "That a meeting of committees from 
the several colonies on this continent is highly expedient and necessary, to 
consult upon the present state of the colonies, and the miseries to which they 
are and must be reduced by the operation of certain acts of Parliament re- 
specting America, and to deliberate and determine upon wise and proper 
measures, to be by them recommended to all the colonies, for the recovery 
and establishment of their just rights and liberties, civil and religious, and the 
restoration of union and harmony between Great Britain and the colonies, 
most ardently desired by all good men : Therefore, resolved, that the Hon. 
James Bowdoin, Esq., the Hon. Thomas Cushing, Esq., Mr. Samuel Adams, 
John Adams and Robert Treat Paine, Esqrs., be, and they are hereby ap- 
pointed a committee on the part of this province, for the purposes aforesaid, 
any three of whom to be a quorum, to meet such committees or delegates 
from the other colonies as have been or may be appointed, either by their 
respective houses of burgesses or representatives, or by convention, or by the 
committees of correspondence appointed by the respective houses of assembly, 
in the city of Philadelphia, or any other place that shall be judged most suit- 
able by the committee, on the ist day of September next; and that the speaker 
of the house be directed, in a letter to the speakers of the houses of burgesses 
or representatives in the several colonies, to inform them of the substance of 
these resolves." 

In accordance with this call, delegates from all the colonies except North 
Carolina and Georgia met at Philadelphia September 5 ; representatives from 
North Carolina appearing on the 14th. On the 7th, a committee of two from 
each colony was appointed "to state the rights of the colonies in general, the 
several instances in which those rights are violated or infringed, and the 
means most proper to be pursued for obtaining a restoration of them." A 
report under this resolution was brought in on the 22d, and read. On the 
24th, however, it was voted "that the Congress do confine themselves, at 
present, to the consideration of such rights as have been infringed by acts of 
the British Parliament since the year 1763." A report in accordance with 
this vote being brought in and read, further consideration was postponed 



1774] DECLARATION AND RESOLVES 1 63 

while the Congress deliberated "on the means most proper to be used for a 
restoration" of colonial rights. The report on the rights and grievances of 
the colonies was finally taken up October 12, and on the 14th agreed to in 
the form following. 

References. — Text in Journals of Congress (ed. 1800), I., 26-30; see 
also Ford's ed., I. The record of proceedings in the journal is meagre; for 
additional details see Frothingham's Rise of the Republic, 331-391; John 
Adams's diary, in his Works, II., 340-404; and lives and works of members 
of the Congress. The instructions to the Virginia delegates, in Jefferson's 
Writings (ed. 1830), I., 100-116, are especially significant. 

Whereas, since the close of the last war, the British parlia- 
ment, claiming a power, of right, to bind the people of America by 
statutes in all cases whatsoever, hath, in some acts, expressly 
imposed taxes on them, and in others, under various pretences, 
but in fact for the purpose of raising a revenue, hath imposed 
rates and duties payable in these colonies, established a board of 
commissioners, with unconstitutional powers, and extended the 
jurisdiction of courts of admiralty, not only for collecting the said 
duties, but for the trial of causes merely arising within the body 
of a county. 

And whereas, in consequence of other statutes, judges, who 
before held only estates at will in their offices, have been made 
dependant on the crown alone for their salaries, and standing 
armies kept in times of peace: And whereas it has lately been 
resolved in parliament, that by force of a statute, made in the 
thirty-fifth year of the reign of King Henry the Eighth, colonists 
may be transported to England, and tried there upon accusations 
for treasons and misprisions, or concealments of treasons com- 
mitted in the colonies, and by a late statute, such trials have been 
directed in cases therein mentioned: 

And whereas, in the last session of parliament, three statutes 
were made . . . [the Boston Port Act, the Massachusetts Govern- 
ment Act, and the Administration of Justice Act;] . . . and an- 
other statute was then made . . . [the Quebec Act] . . . All 
which statutes are impolitic, unjust, and cruel, as well as uncon- 
stitutional, and most dangerous and destructive of American 
rights : 

And whereas, assemblies have been frequently dissolved, con- 
trary to the rights of the people, when they attempted to deliberate 
on grievances; and their dutiful, humble, loyal, and reasonable 



164 DECLARATION AND RESOLVES [October 14 

petitions to the crown for redress, have been repeatedly treated 
with contempt, by his Majesty's ministers of state : 

The good people of the several colonies of New-Hampshire, 
Massachusetts-Bay, Rhode-Island and Providence Plantations, 
Connecticut, New- York, New- Jersey, Pennsylvania, Newcastle, 
Kent, and Sussex on Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North- 
Carolina, and South-Carolina, justly alarmed at these arbitrary 
proceedings of parliament and administration, have severally 
elected, constituted, and appointed duputies to meet, and sit in 
general Congress, in the city of Philadelphia, in order to obtain 
such establishment, as that their religion, laws, and liberties, may 
not be subverted: Whereupon the deputies so appointed being 
now assembled, in a full and free representation of these colonies, 
taking into their most serious consideration, the best means of 
attaining the ends aforesaid, do, in the first place, as Englishmen, 
their ancestors in like cases have usually done, for asserting and 
vindicating their rights and liberties, DECLARE, 

That the inhabitants of the English colonies in North-America, 
by the immutable laws of nature, the principles of the English 
constitution, and the several charters or compacts, have the fol- 
lowing RIGHTS: 

Resolved, N. CD. 1. That they are entitled to life, liberty 
and property: and they have never ceded to any foreign power 
whatever, a right to dispose of either without their consent. 

Resolved, N. CD. 2. That our ancestors, who first settled 
these colonies, were at the time of their emigration from the mother 
country, entitled to all the rights, liberties, and immunities of free 
and natural-born subjects, within the realm of England. 

Resolved, N. CD. 3. That by such emigration they by no 
means forfeited, surrendered, or lost any of those rights, but that 
they were, and their descendants now are, entitled to the exercise 
and enjoyment of all such of them, as their local and other cir- 
cumstances enable them to exercise and enjoy. 

Resolved, 4. That the foundation of English liberty, and of all 
free government, is a right in the people to participate in their 
legislative council: and as the English colonists are not repre- 
sented, and from their local and other circumstances, cannot 
properly be represented in the British parliament, they are entitled 
to a free and exclusive power of legislation in their several pro- 



1774] DECLARATION AND RESOLVES 165 

vincial legislatures, where their right of representation can alone 
be preserved, in all cases of taxation and internal polity, subject 
only to the negative of their sovereign, in such manner as has 
been heretofore used and accustomed: But, from the necessity 
of the case, and a regard to the mutual interest of both countries, 
we cheerfully consent to the operation of such acts of the British 
parliament, as are bona fide, restrained to the regulation of our 
external commerce, for the purpose of securing the commercial 
advantages of the whole empire to the mother country, and the 
commercial benefits of its respective members; excluding every 
idea of taxation internal or external, for raising a revenue on the 
subjects, in Amicrica, without their consent. 

Resolved, N. C. D. 5. That the respective colonies are en- 
titled to the common law of England, and more especially to the 
great and inestimable privilege of being tried by their peers of 
the vicinage, according to the course of that law. 

Resolved, 6. That they are entitled to the benefit of such of 
the English statutes, as existed at the time of their colonization; 
and which they have, by experience, respectively found to be 
applicable to their several local and other circumstances. 

Resolved, N. C. D. 7. That these, his majesty's colonies, are 
likewise entitled to all the immunities and privileges granted and 
confirmed to them by royal charters, or secured by their several 
codes of provincial laws. 

Resolved, N. C. D. 8. That they have a right peaceably to 
assemble, consider of their grievances, and petition the king; 
and that all prosecutions, prohibitory proclamations, and com- 
mitments for the same, are illegal. 

Resolved, N. C. D. 9. That the keeping a standing army in 
these colonies, in times of peace, without the consent of the legis- 
lature of that colony, in which such army is kept, is against law. 

Resolved, N. C. D. 10. It is indispensably necessary to good 
government, and rendered essential by the English constitution, 
that the constituent branches of the legislature be independent 
of each other; that, therefore, the exercise of legislative power 
in several colonies, by a council appointed, during pleasure, by 
the crown, is unconstitutional, dangerous and destructive to the 
freedom of American legislation. 

All and each of which the aforesaid deputies, in behalf of them- 



1 66 THE ASSOCIATION [October 20 

selves, and their constituents, do claim, demand, and insist on, 
as their indubitable rights and liberties; which cannot be legally 
taken from them, altered or abridged by any power whatever, 
without their own consent, by their representatives in their several 
provincial legislatures. 

In the course of our inquiry, we find many infringements and 
violations of the foregoing rights, which, from an ardent desire, 
that harmony and mutual intercourse of affection and interest 
may be restored, we pass over for the present, and proceed to state 
such acts and measures as have been adopted since the last war, 
which demonstrate a system formed to enslave America. 

Resolved, N. C. D. That the following acts of parliament are 
infringements and violations of the rights of the colonists; and 
that the repeal of them is essentially necessary, in order to restore 
harmony between Great-Britain and the American colonies, viz. . . . 
[The Stamp Act, the Townshend Revenue Act, the coercive acts of 
1774, the Quebec Act, &c.]. . . . 

Also, that the keeping a standing army in several of these colo- 
nies, in time of peace, without the consent of the legislature of 
that colony, in which such army is kept, is against law. 

******** 



No. 44. The Association 

October 20, 1774 

September 22, 1774, the Continental Congress unanimously voted to "re- 
quest the merchants and others, in the several colonies, not to send to Great 
Britain any orders for goods, and to direct the execution of all orders already 
sent to be delayed or suspended, until the sense of the Congress on the means 
to be taken for the preservation of the liberties of .'\merica is made public." 
On the 27th it was resolved "that from and after the first day of December 
next, there be no importation into British America, from Great Britain or 
Ireland, of any goods, wares or merchandize whatever, or from any other 
place of any such goods, wares or merchandizes as shall have been exported 
from Great Britain or Ireland, and that no such goods, wares or merchandizes 
imported after the said first day of December next be used or purchased." 
A resolution of September 30 declared that exportation to Great Britain, 
Ireland, and the West Indies ought to cease from and after Sept. 10, 1775, 
"unless the grievances of America are redressed before that time;" and a 
committee was appointed " to bring in a plan for carrying into effect the non- 



1774] THE ASSOCIATION 167 

importation, non-consumption and non-exportation resolved on." October 
6 the committee were directed to include in their plan a clause prohibiting the 
importation, after December i, of molasses, coffee and pimento from the 
British plantations or Dominica, wines from Madeira and the Western 
Islands, and foreign indigo. The report of the committee was brought in 
October 12, and on the i8th was agreed to; on the 20th it was signed by 
fifty-three members of the Congress. 

References. — Text in Journals of Congress (ed. 1800), I., 31-35. 
Numerous documents relating to the observance of the Association in the 
different colonies are collected in Force's American Archives, Fourth Series, 
I., II. 

WE, his majesty's most loyal subjects, the delegates of the 
several colonies of New-Hampshire, Massachusetts-Bay, Rhode- 
Island, Connecticut, New- York, New- Jersey, Pennsylvania, the 
three lower counties of Newcastle, Kent and Sussex on Delaware, 
Maryland, Virginia, North-Carolina, and South-Carolina, deputed 
to represent them in a continental Congress, held in the city of 
Philadelphia, on the fifth day of September, 1774, avowing our 
allegiance to his majesty, our affection and regard for our fellow- 
subjects in Great Britain and elsewhere, affected with the deepest 
anxiety, and most alarming apprehensions, at those grievances 
and distresses, with which his majesty's American subjects are 
oppressed ; and having taken under our most serious deliberation, 
the state of the whole continent, find, that the present unhappy 
situation of our affairs is occasioned by a ruinous system of colony 
administration, adopted by the British ministry about the year 
1763, evidently calculated for inslaving these colonies, and, with 
them, the British Empire. In prosecution of which system, va- 
rious acts of parliament have been passed, for raising a revenue' 
in America, for depriving the American subjects, in many in- 
stances, of the constitutional trial by jury, exposing their lives 
to danger, by directing a new and illegal trial beyond the seas, 
for crimes alleged to have been committed in America: And in 
prosecution of the same system, several late, cruel, and oppressive 
acts have been passed, respecting the town of Boston and the 
Massachusetts-Bay, and also an act for extending the province of 
Quebec, so as to border on the western frontiers of these colonies, 
estabhshing an arbitrary government therein, and discouraging 
the settlement of British subjects in that wide extended country ; 
thus, by the influence of civil principles and ancient prejudices, 



l68 THE ASSOCIATION [October 20 

to dispose the inhabitants to act with hostility against the free 
Protestant colonies, whenever a wicked ministry shall chuse so 
to direct them. 

To obtain redress of these grievances, which threaten destruc- 
tion to the lives, liberty, and property of his majesty's subjects, 
in North-America, we are of opinion, that a non-importation, non- 
consumption, and non-exportation agreement, faithfully ad- 
hered to, will prove the most speedy, effectual, and peaceable 
measure: And, therefore, we do, for ourselves, and the inhabitants 
of the several colonies, whom we represent, firmly agree and 
associate, under the sacred ties of virtue, honour and love of our 
country, as follows: 

First, That from and after the first day of December next, we 
will not import, into British America, from Great-Britain or Ire- 
land, any goods, wares, or merchandize whatsoever, or from any 
other place, any such goods, wares, or merchandize, as shall have 
been exported from Great-Britain or Ireland; nor will we, after 
that day, import any East-India tea from any part of the world; 
nor any molasses, syrups, paneles, coffee, or pimento, from the 
British plantations or from Dominica; nor wines from Madeira, 
or the Western Islands ; nor foreign indigo. 

Second, We will neither import nor purchase, any slave im- 
ported after the first day of December next; after which time, 
we will wholly discontinue the slave trade, and will neither be con- 
cerned in it ourselves, nor will we hire our vessels, nor sell our 
commodities or manufactures to those who are concerned in it. 

Third, As a non-consumption agreement, strictly adhered to, 
will be an efTectual security for the observation of the non-im- 
portation, we, as above, solemnly agree and associate, that from 
this day, we will not purchase or use any tea, imported on account 
of the East-India company, or any on which a duty hath been 
or shall be paid; and from and after the first day of March next, 
we will not purchaase or use any East-India tea whatever; nor will 
we, nor shall any person for or under us, purchase or use any 
of those goods, wares, or merchandize, we have agreed not to 
import, which we shall know, or have cause to suspect, were 
imported after the first day of December, except such as come 
under the rules and directions of the tenth article hereafter men- 
tioned. 



1774] THE ASSOCIATION l6g 

Fourth, The earnest desire we have not to injure our fellow- 
subjects in Great-Britain, Ireland, or the West-Indies, induces 
us to suspend a non-exportation, until the tenth day of September, 
1775 ; at which time, if the said acts and parts of acts of the Brit- 
ish parliament herein after mentioned, are not repealed, we will 
not directly or indirectly, export any merchandize or commodity 
whatsoever to Great-Britain, Ireland, or the West-Indies, except 
rice to Europe. 

Fifth, Such as are merchants, and use the British and Irish 
trade, will give orders, as soon as possible, to their factors, agents 
and correspondents, in Great-Britain and Ireland, not to ship 
any goods to them, on any pretence whatsoever, as they cannot 
be received in America; and if any merchant, residing in Great- 
Britain or Ireland, shall directly or indirectly ship any goods, 
wares or merchandize, for America, in order to break the said 
non-importation agreement, or in any manner contravene the 
same, on such unworthy conduct being well attested, it ought to 
be made public ; and, on the same being -so done, we will not, 
from thenceforth, have any commercial connexion with such 
merchant. 

Sixth, That such as are owners of vessels will give positive 
orders to their captains, 01 masters, not to receive on board their 
vessels any goods prohibited by the said non-importation agree- 
ment, on pain of immediate dismission from their service. 

Seventh, We will use our utmost endeavours to improve the 
breed of sheep, and increase their number to the greatest extent; 
and to that end, we will kill them as seldom as may be, especially 
those of the most profitable kind; nor will we export any to the 
West-Indies or elsewhere; and those of us, who are or may be- 
come overstocked with, or can conveniently spare any sheep, 
will dispose of them to our neighbours, especially to the poorer 
sort, on moderate terms. 

Eighth, We will, in our several stations, encourage frugality, 
oeconomy, and industry, and promote agriculture, arts and the 
manufactures of this country, especially that of wool; and will 
discountenance and discourage every species of extravagance and 
dissipation, especially all horse -racing, and all kinds of gaming, 
cock fighting, exhibitions of shews, plays, and other expensive 
diversions and entertainments; and on the death of any relation 



lyo THE ASSOCIATION [October 20 

or friend, none of us, or any of our families will go into any 
further mourning-dress, than a black crape or ribbon on the arm 
or hat, for gentlemen, and a black ribbon and necklace for ladies, 
and we will discontinue the giving of gloves and scarves at 
funerals. 

Ninth, Such as are venders of goods or merchandize will not 
take advantage of the scarcity of goods, that may be occasioned 
by this association, but will sell the same at the rates we have 
been respectively accustomed to do, for twelve months last past. 
— And if any vender of goods or merchandize shall sell such 
goods on higher terms, or shall, in any manner, or by any device 
whatsoever, violate or depart from this agreement, no person 
ought, nor will any of us deal with any such person, or his or 
her factor or agent, at any time thereafter, for any commodity 
whatever. 

Tenth, In case any merchant, trader, or other person, shall im- 
port any goods or merchandize, after the first day of December, 
and before the first day of February next, the same ought forth- 
with, at the election of the owner, to be either re-shipped or 
delivered up to the committee of the country or town, wherein 
they shall be imported, to be stored at the risque of the importer, 
until the non-importation agreement shall cease, or be sold under 
the direction of the committee aforesaid; and in the last-men- 
tioned case, the owner or owners of such goods shall be reim- 
bursed out of the sales, the first cost and charges, the profit, if 
any, to be applied towards relieving and employing such poor 
inhabitants of the town of Boston, as are immediate sufferers by 
the Boston port-bill; and a particular account of all goods so 
returned, stored, or sold, to be inserted in the public papers; 
and if any goods or merchandizes shall be imported after the said 
first day of February, the same ought forthwith to be sent back 
again, without breaking any of the packages thereof. 

Eleventh, That a committee be chosen in every county, city, 
and town, by those who are qualified to vote for representatives 
in the legislature, whose business it shall be attentively to observe 
the conduct of all persons touching this association; and when 
it shall be made to appear, to the satisfaction of a majority of 
any such committee, that any person within the limits of their 
appointment has violated this association, that such majority da 



1774] LORD NORTH'S RESOLUTION lyi 

forthwith cause the truth of the case to be published in the 
gazette; to the end, that all such foes to the rights of British- 
America may be publicly known, and universally contemned as 
the enemies of American liberty; and thenceforth we respectively 
will break off all dealings with him or her. 

Twelfth, That the committee of correspondence, in the respec- 
tive colonies, do frequently inspect the entries of their custom- 
houses, and inform each other, from time to time, of the true 
state thereof, and of every other material circumstance that may 
occur relative to this association. 

Thirteenth, That all manufactures of this country be sold at 
reasonable prices, so that no undue advantage be taken of a future 
scarcity of goods. 

Fourteenth, And we do further agree and resolve, that we will 
have no trade, commerce, dealings or intercourse whatsoever, 
with any colony or province, in North-America, which shall not 
accede to, or which shall hereafter violate this association, but 
will hold them as unworthy of the rights of freemen, and as inimical 
to the liberties of their country. 

[This association to be adhered to until the acts complained 
of are repealed.] 



No. 45. Lord North's Conciliatory Resolu- 
tion 

February 27, 1775 

Lord North's unexpected offer of conciliation, in the form of the reso- 
lution following, was presented to the House of Commons, in Committee of the 
Whole, February 20, 1775. Although the proposal was generally unsatisfac- 
tory to the friends of the ministry, it was adopted by a vote of 274 to 88. On 
the 27th the resolution was reported to the House, and agreed to. 

References. — Text in Force's American Archives, Fourth Series, I., 
1598. The debates on the resolution are also in ib., 1597-1622. Public 
opinion in England is best exhibited in the Annual Register (1775). Dart- 
mouth's letter to the governors, March 3, urging acceptance of the proposition, 
is in Force, op. cit., Fourth Series, IL, 27, 28. 

That it is the opinion of this Committee, that when the Gov- 
ernour, Council, and Assembly, or General Court, of any of his 



172 NEW ENGLAND RESTRAINING ACT [March 30 

Majesty's Provinces or Colonies in America, shall propose to 
make provision, according to the condition, circumstances, and 
situation of such Province or Colony, for contributing their pro- 
portion to the common defence, (such proportion to be raised 
under the authority of the General Court, or General Assembly, 
of such Province or Colony, and disposable by Parliament,) and 
shall engage to make proWsion also for the support of the Civil 
Government, and the Administration of Justice, in such Province 
or Colony, it will be proper, if such proposal shall be approved 
by his Majesty and the two Houses of Parliament, and for so 
long as such provision shall be made accordingly, to forbear, in 
respect of such Province or Colony, to levy any Duty, Tax, or 
Assessment, or to impose any farther Duty, Tax, or Assessment, 
except only such Duties as it may be expedient to continue to 
levy or to impose for the regulation of commerce ; the nett produce 
of the Duties last mentioned to be carried to the account of such 
Province or Colony respectively. 



No. 46. New England Restraining Act 

March 30, 1775 

The petition to the King, adopted by the first Continental Congress 
Oct. 26, 1774, was laid before Parliament Jan. 19, 1775, accompanied by volu- 
minous papers relating to affairs in America. February i a provisional bill, 
presented to the House of Lords by the Earl of Chatham, and designed to 
settle the difficulties in the colonies while "asserting the supreme legislative 
authority and superintending power of Great Britain," was rejected. An 
address to the King, assuring him of support at all hazards in measures to put 
down rebellion, was agreed to notwithstanding the protest of eighteen mem- 
bers of the Lords, who pronounced the address a virtual declaration of war. 
February 10, in the Commons, Lord North, asserting that "as the Americans 
had refused to trade with Great Britain, it was but just that they be not suf- 
fered to trade with any other nation," moved for leave to bring in a bill to 
restrain the trade and commerce of the New England colonies to Great 
Britain, Ireland, and the West Indies. By a vote of 261 to 85 the motion 
was carried. The bill was presented on the 17th, had its second reading on 
the 24th, and March 8 passed without a division. The bill had its second 
reading in the Lords March 16, and passed that house on the 21st, by a vote 
of 73 to 21, with an amendment, agreed to by a vote of 52 to 21, including 



1775] NEW ENGLAND RESTRAINING ACT 173 

New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and South Carolina within 
the scope of the act. Sixteen Lords entered a protest against the bill. The 
Commons, who already had before them a bill restraining the trade of the 
southern colonies, rejected the amendment, and the bill passed without it. 
March 30 the act received the royal assent. The bill to restrain the trade of 
the other colonies became law in April. Both acts were repealed by an act of 
December 22, 1775, prohibiting all trade and intercourse with America. 

References. — Text in Pickering's Statutes at Large, XXXL, 4-1 1. The 
act is cited as 15 Geo. III., c. 10. For the proceedings in Parliament, see 
the Parliamentary History, XVIII., or Force's American Archives, Fourth 
Series, I., 1621-1716; cf. also the Annual Register (1775). 

An act to restrain the trade and commerce of the provinces of 
Massachuset's Bay and New Hampshire, and colonies of Con- 
necticut and Rhode Island, and Providence Plantation, in 
North America, to Great Britain, Ireland, and the British 
islands in the West Indies; and to prohibit such provinces and 
colonies from carrying on any fishery on the banks of New- 
foundland, or other places therein mentioned, under certain con- 
ditions and limitations. 

[The section begins \\dth a statement of the purport of certain 
of the acts of trade, and continues:] and whereas, during the 
continuance of the combinations and disorders, which at this time 
prevail within the provinces 0/ Massachuset's Bay and New Hamp- 
shire, and the colonies of Connecticut and Rhode Island, to the 
obstruction of the commerce of these kingdoms, and other his 
Majesty's dominions, and in breach and violation of the laws of 
this realm, it is highly unfit that the inhabitants of the said prov- 
inces and colonies should enjoy the same privileges of trade, and 
the same benefits and advantages to which his Majesty's faithful 
and obedient subjects are intitled; be it therefore enacted . . . , 
That from and after . . . [July i, 1775,] . . . and during the 
continuance of this act, no goods, wares, or merchandises, which 
are particularly enumerated in, and by the said act made in the 
twelfth year of king Charles the Second, or any other act, being 
the growth, product, or manufacture of the proWnces of Massa- 
chusetts Bay, or New Hampshire, or colonies of Connecticut, 
Rhode Island, or Providence Plantation, in North America, or any 
or either of them, are to be brought to some other British colony, 
or to Great Britain; or any such enumerated goods, wares, or 



174 NEW ENGLAND RESTRAINING ACT [March ^c 

merchandise, which shall at any time or times have been imported 
or brought into the said provinces or colonies, or any or either of 
them, shall be shipped, carried, conveyed, or transported, from 
any of the said provinces or colonies respectively, to any land, 
island, territory, dominion, port, or place whatsoever, other than 
to Great Britain, or some of the British islands in the West Indies, 
to be laid on shore there; and that no other goods, wares, or 
merchandises whatsoever, of the growth, product, or manufacture 
of the provinces or colonies herein-before mentioned, or which 
shall at any time or times have been imported or brought into the 
same, shall, from and after the said first day of July, and during the 
continuance of this act, be shipped, carried, conveyed, or trans- 
ported, from any of the said provinces or colonies respectively, 
to any other land, island, territory, dominion, port, or place what- 
soever, except to the kingdoms of Great Britain or Ireland, or to 
some of the British islands in the West Indies, to be laid on shore 
there; any law, custom, or usage, to the contrary notwithstanding. 

IV. And it is hereby further enacted . . . , That from and 
after . . . [September i, 1775] . . . and during the continuance 
of this act, no sort of wines, salt, or any goods or commodities 
whatsoever, (except horses, victual, and linen cloth, the produce 
and manufacture of Ireland, imported directly from thence), 
shall be imported into any of the said colonies or provinces herein- 
before respectively mentioned, upon any pretence whatsoever, 
unless such goods shall be bona fide and without fraud laden and 
shipped in Great Britain, and carried directly from thence, upon 
forfeiture thereof, and of the ship or vessel on board which such 
goods shall be laden . . . 

VI. [Goods from the British West Indies may continue to be 
imported.] 

VII. And it is hereby further enacted . . . , That if any ship 
or vessel, being the property of the subjects ol Great Britain, not 
belonging to and fitted out from Great Britain or Ireland, or 
the islands of Guernsey, Jersey, Sark, Alderney, or Man, shall 
be found, after . . . [July 20, 1775,] . . . carrying on any 
fishery, of what nature or kind soever, upon the banks of New- 
foundland, the coast of Labrador, or within the river or gulf of 



1775] NEW ENGLAND RESTRAINING ACT 175 

Saint Lawrence, or upon the coast of Cape Breton, or Nova Scotia, 
or any other part of the coast of North America, or having on board 
materials for carrying on any such fishery, every such ship or 
vessel, with her guns, ammunition, tackle, apparel, and furniture, 
together with the fish, if any shall be found on board, shall be for- 
feited, unless the master, or other person, having the charge of 
such ship or vessel, do produce to the commander of any of his 
Majesty's ships of war, stationed for the protection and super- 
intendence of the British fisheries in America, a certificate, under 
the hand and seal of the governor or commander in chief, of any 
of the colonies or plantations of Quebec, Newfoundland, Saint 
John, Nova Scotia, New York, New Jersey, Pensylvania, Mary- 
land, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, East 
Florida, West Florida, Bahamas, and Bermudas, setting forth, 
that such ship or vessel, expressing her name, and the name of 
her master, and describing her built and burthen, hath fitted and 
cleared out, from some one of the said colonies or plantations, in 
order to proceed upon the said fishery, and that she actually and 
bona fide belongs to and is the whole and entire property of his 
Majesty's subjects, inhabitants of the said colony or plantation. . . 

[Section VIII subjects vessels engaged in the fisheries to search. 
Sections IX., X., and XL provide that this act shall not extend 
to ships clearing from the colonies before June i, for the whale 
fishery only; nor to ships belonging to the island of Nantucket, 
cleared for the whale fishery, and having a proper certificate; 
nor to fishing vessels fitted out by the towns of Marshfield and 
Scituate. By Sec. XII., the St. Croix river is declared to be, 
for the purposes of this act, the boundary between Massachusetts 
and Nova Scotia.] 

XIII. And whereas it is the intent and meaning of this act, 
that the several prohibitions and restraints herein imposed upon 
the trade and commerce, and fisheries, of the said provinces and 
colonies should be discontinued and cease, so soon as the trade 
and commerce of his Majesty's subjects may be carried on without 
interruption ; be it therefore enacted . . . , That whenever it shall 
be made appear to the satisfaction of his Majesty's governor or 
commander in chief, and the majority of the council, in the 
provinces of New Hampshire and Massachusetts Bay respectively, 
that peace and obedience to the laws shall be so far restored 



176 DECLARATION OF CAUSES [July 6 

within the said provinces, or either of them, that the trade and 
commerce of his Majesty's subjects may be carried on without 
interruption within the same; and that goods, wares, and mer- 
chandise, have been freely imported into the said provinces, or 
either of them, from Great Britain, and exposed to sale, without 
any let, hindrance, or molestation, from or by reason of any un- 
lawful combinations to prevent or obstruct the same; and that 
goods, wares, and merchandise, have in like manner been exported 
from the said provinces, or either of them respectively, to Great 
Britain, for and during the term of one calendar month preceed- 
ing; that then, and in such case, it shall and may be lawful for 
the governor or commander in chief, with the advice of the 
council of such provinces respectively, by proclamation, under 
the seal of such respective province, to notify the same to the 
several officers of the customs, and all others; and after such 
proclamation, this act with respect to such province, within which 
such proclamation or proclamations have been issued as afore- 
said, shall be discontinued and cease, (except as herein-after 
provided) . . . 

[By Sections XIV. and XV., like proclamation may be made 
for Connecticut and Rhode Island, on proof that lawful trade has 
been resumed; but proceedings upon previous seizures are not 
to be thereby discharged.] 



No. 47. Declaration of the Causes and 
Necessity of Taking up Arms 

July 6, 1775 

JXJNE 23, 1775, John Rutledge of South Carolina, William Livingston of 
New Jersey, Franklin, Jay, and Thomas Johnson of Maryland, were ap- 
pointed a committee "to draw up a declaration, to be published by General 
Washington, upon his arrival at the camp before Boston." The report was 
brought in the next day, and on the 26th, after debate, was recommitted, and 
Dickinson and Jefferson added to the committee. A draft prepared by 
Jefferson being thought by Dickinson too outspoken, the latter prepared a 
new one, retaining, however, the closing paragraphs as drawn by Jefferson. 
In this form the declaration was reported June 27, and agreed to July 6. 



1775] DECLARATION OF CAUSES 177 

References. — Text in Journals of Congress (ed. 1800), I., 134-139. 
The case for the colonies in 1775 is best stated in John Adams's N ovanglus 
(Works, IV., ii-i77),in reply to a series of newspaper articles by Daniel 
Leonard, over the signature of Massachusettensis. The two series were 
printed together at Boston in 1819. 

A declaration by the Representatives of the United Colonies of 
North-America, now met in Congress at Philadelphia, setting 
forth the causes and necessity of their taking up arms. 

IF it was possible for men, who exercise their reason to believe, 
that the divine Author of our existence intended a part of the 
human race to hold an absolute property in, and an unbounded 
power over others, marked out by his infinite goodness and wis- 
dom, as the objects of a legal domination never rightfully re- 
sistible, however severe and oppressive, the inhabitants of these 
colonies might at least require from the parliament of Great- 
Britain some evidence, that this dreadful authority over them, 
has been granted to that body. But a reverence for our great 
Creator, principles of humanity, and the dictates of common 
sense, must convince all those who reflect upon the subject, that 
government was instituted to promote the welfare of mankind, 
and ought to be administered for the attainment of that end. 
The legislature of Great-Britain, however, stimulated by an inor- 
dinate passion for a power not only unjustifiable, but which they 
know to be peculiarly reprobated by the very constitution of that 
kingdom, and desperate of success in any mode of contest, where 
regard should be had to truth, law, or right, have at length, desert- 
ing those, attempted to effect their cruel and impolitic purpose 
of enslaving these colonies by violence, and have thereby rendered 
it necessary for us to close with their last appeal from reason to 
arms. — Yet, however blinded that assembly may be, by their 
intemperate rage for unlimited domination, so to slight justice 
and the opinion of mankind, we esteem ourselves bound by obli- 
gations of respect to the rest of the world, to make known the 
justice of our cause. 

Our forefathers, inhabitants of the island of Great-Britain, left 
their native land, to seek on these shores a residence for civil and 
religious freedom. At the expense of their blood, at the hazard 
of their fortunes, without the least charge to the country from 



lyS DECLARATION OF CAUSES [July 

which they removed, by unceasing labour, and an unconquerable 
spirit, they effected settlements in the distant and inhospitable 
wilds of America, then iilled with numerous and warlike nations 
of barbarians. — Societies or governments, vested with perfect 
legislatures, were formed under charters from the crown, and an 
harmonious intercourse was established between the colonies and 
the kingdom from which they derived their origin. The mutual 
benefits of this union became in a short time so extraordinary, as 
to excite astonishment. It is universally confessed, that the 
amazing increase of the wealth, strength, and navigation of the 
realm, arose from this source; and the minister, who so wisely 
and successfully directed the measures of Great-Britain in the 
late war, publicly declared, that these colonies enabled her to 
triumph over her enemies. — Towards the conclusion of that war, 
it pleased our sovereign to make a change in his counsels. — 
From that fatal morhent, the affairs of the British empire began 
to fall into confusion, and gradually sliding from the summit of 
glorious prosperity, to which they had been advanced by the vir- 
tues and abilities of one man, are at length distracted by the 
convulsions, that now shake it to its deepest foundations. — The 
new ministry finding the brave foes of Britain, though frequently 
defeated, yet still contending, took uj) the unfortunate idea of 
granting them a hasty peace, and of then subduing her faithful 
friends. 

These devoted colonies were judged to be in such a state, as 
to present victories without bloodshed, and all the easy emolu- 
ments of statuteable plunder. — The uninterrupted tenor of their 
peaceable and respectful behaviour from the beginning of colo- 
nization, their dutiful, zealous, and useful services during the 
war, though so recently and amply acknowledged in the most 
honourable manner by his majesty, by the late king, and by par- 
liament, could not save them from the meditated innovations. — 
Parliament was influenced to adopt the pernicious project, and 
assuming a new power over them, have in the course of eleven 
years, given such decisive specimens of the spirit and conse- 
quences attending this power, as to leave no doubt concerning 
the effects of acquiescence under it. They have undertaken to 
give and grant our money without our consent, though we have 
ever exercised an exclusive right to dispose of our own property; 



1775] DECLML-^TION OF CAUSES 179 

statutes have been passed for extending the jurisdiction of courts 
of admiralty and vice-admiralty beyond their ancient limits; for 
depri\ing us of the accustomed and inestimable privilege of trial 
by jury, in cases affecting both hfe and property; for suspending 
the legislature of one of the colonies; for interdicting all com- 
merce to the capital of another; and for altering fundamentally 
the form of government established by charter, and secured by 
acts of its own legislature solemnly confirmed by the crown ; for 
exempting the "murderers" of colonists from legal trial, and in 
effect, from punishment ; for erecting in a neighbouring province, 
acquired by the joint arms of Great-Britain and America, a des- 
potism dangerous to our very existence; and for quartering sol- 
diers upon the colonists in time of profound peace. It has also 
been resolved in parliament, that colonists charged vvith com- 
mitting certain offences, shall be transported to England to be 
tried. 

But why should we enumerate our injuries in detail ? By one 
statute it is declared, that parliament can "of right make laws to 
bind us in all cases whatsoever." What is to defend us against 
so enormous, so unlimited a power? Not a single man of those 
who assume it, is chosen by us ; or is subject to our controul or 
influence ; but, on the contrary, they are all of them exempt from 
the operation of such laws, and an American revenue, if not di- 
verted from the ostensible purposes for which it is raised, would 
actually lighten their own burdens in proportion, as they increase 
ours. We saw the misery to which such despotism would reduce 
us. We for ten years incessantly and ineffectually besieged the 
throne as supplicants ; we reasoned, we remonstrated with parlia- 
ment, in the most mild and decent language. 

Administration sensible that we should regard these oppressive 
measures as freemen ought to do, sent over fleets and armies to 
enforce them. The indignation of the Americans was roused, it 
is true; but it was the indignation of a virtuous, loyal, and affec- 
tionate people. A Congress of delegates from the United Colonies 
was assembled at Philadelphia, on the fifth day of last September. 
We resolved again to offer an humble and dutiful petition to the 
king, and also addressed our fellow-subjects of Great-Britain. 
We have pursued every temperate, every respectful measure: 
we have even proceeded to break off our commercial intercourse 



l8o DECLARATION OF CAUSES " [July 6 

with our fellow-subjects, as the last peaceable admonition, that 
our attachment to no nation upon earth should supplant our 
attachment to liberty. — This, we flattered ourselves, was the 
ultimate step of the controversy: but subsequent events have 
shewn, how vain was this hope of finding moderation in our 
enemies. 

Several threatening expressions against the colonies were in- 
serted in his majesty's speech; our petition, tho' we were told it 
was a decent one, and that his majesty had been pleased to receive 
it graciously, and to promise laying it before his parliament, 
was huddled into both houses among a bundle of American 
papers, and there neglected. The lords and commons in their 
address, in the month of February, said, that "a rebellion at 
that time actually existed within the province of Massachusetts- 
Bay; and that those concerned in it, had been countenanced and 
encouraged by unlawful combinations and engagements, entered 
into by his majesty's subjects in several of the other colonies; 
and therefore they besought his majesty, that he would take the 
most effectual measures to inforce due obedience to the laws and 
authority of the supreme legislature." — Soon after, the commer- 
cial intercourse of whole colonies, with foreign countries, and 
with each other, was cut off by an act of parliament ; by another 
several of them were intirely prohibited from the fisheries in the 
seas near their co[a]sts, on which they always depended for their 
sustenance; and large reinforcements of ships and troops were 
immediately sent over to general Gage. 

Fruitless were all the entreaties, arguments, and eloquence of 
an illustrious band of the most distinguished peers, and com- 
moners, who nobly and stren[»]ously asserted the justice of our 
cause, to stay, or even to mitigate the heedless fury with which 
these accumulated and unexampled outrages were hurried on. — 
Equally fruitless was the interference of the city of London, of 
Bristol, and many other respectable towns in our favour. Parlia- 
ment adopted an insidious manccuvre calculated to divide us, to 
establish a perpetual auction of taxations where colony should 
bid against colony, all of them uninformed what ransom would 
redeem their lives; and thus to extort from us, at the point of 
the bayonet, the unknown sums that should be sufficient to gratify, 
if possible to gratify, ministerial rapacity, with the miserable 



1775] DECLARATION OF CAUSES l8l 

indulgence left to us of raising, in our own mode, the prescribed 
tribute. What terms more rigid and humiliating could have been 
dictated by remorseless victors to conquered enemies? in our 
circumstances to accept them, would be to deserve them. 

Soon after the intelligence of these proceedings arrived on this 
continent, general Gage, who in the course of the last year had 
taken possession of the town of Boston, in the province of Mas- 
sachusetts-Bay, and still occupied it is [as] a garrison, on the 
19th day of April, sent out from that place a large detachment of 
his army, who made an unprovoked assault on the inhabitants of 
the said province, at the town of Lexington, as appears by the 
affidavits of a great number of persons, some of whom were 
officers and soldiers of that detachment, murdered eight of the 
inhabitants, and wounded many others. From thence the troops 
proceeded in warlike array to the town of Concord, where they 
set upon another party of the inhabitants of the same province, 
killing several and v>'ounding more, until compelled to retreat by 
the country people suddenly assembled to repel this cruel aggres- 
sion. Hostilities, thus commenced by the British troops, have 
been since prosecuted by them without regard to faith or reputa- 
tion. — The inhabitants of Boston being confined within that 
town by the general their governor, and having, in order to pro- 
cure their dismission, entered into a treaty with him, it was stipu- 
lated that the said inhabitants having deposited their arms with 
their own magistrates, should have liberty to depart, taking 
with them their other effects. They accordingly delivered up their 
arms, but in open violation of honour, in defiance of the obliga- 
tion of treaties, which even savage nations esteemed sacred, the 
governor ordered the arms deposited as aforesaid, that they might 
be preserved for their owners, to be seized by a body of soldiers; 
detained the greatest part of the inhabitants in the town, and 
compelled the few who were permitted to retire, to leave their 
most valuable effects behind. 

By this perfidy wives are separated from their husbands, chil- 
dren from their parents, the aged and the sick from their rela- 
tions and friends, who wish to attend and comfort them; and 
those who have been used to live in plenty and even elegance, 
are reduced to deplorable distress. 

The general, further emulating his ministerial masters, by a 



l82 DECLARATION OF CAUSES [July 6 

proclamation bearing date on the 12th day of June, after venting 
the grossest falsehoods and calumnies against the good people 
of these colonies, proceeds to "declare them all, either by name or 
description, to be rebels and traitors, to supersede the course of 
the common law, and instead thereof to publish and order the 
use and exercise of the law martial." — His troops have butch- 
ered our countrymen, have wantonly burnt Charlestown, besides 
a considerable number of houses in other places; our ships and 
vessels are seized; the necessary supplies of provisions are inter- 
cepted, and he is exerting his utmost power to spread destruction 
and devastation around him. 

We have received certain intelligence, that general Carelton 
[Carleton], the governor of Canada, is instigating the people of 
that province and the Indians to fall upon us; and we have but 
too much reason to apprehend, that schemes have been formed 
to excite domestic enemies against us. In brief, a part of these 
colonies now feel, and all of them are sure of feeling, as far as 
the vengeance of administration can inflict them, the compli- 
cated calamities of fire, sword, and famine. We ^ are reduced 
to the alternative of chusing an unconditional submission to the 
tyranny of irritated ministers, or resistance by force. — The latter 
is our choice. — We have counted the cost of this contest, and 
find nothing so dreadful as voluntary slavery. — Honour, justice, 
and humanity, forbid us tamely to surrender that freedom which 
we received from our gallant ancestors, and which our innocent 
posterity have a right to receive from us. We cannot endure the 
infamy and guilt of resigning succeeding generations to that 
wretchedness which inevitably awaits them, if we basely entail 
hereditary bondage upon them. 

Our cause is just. Our union is perfect. Our internal re- 
sources are great, and, if necessary, foreign assistance is undoubt- 
edly attainable. — We gratefully acknowledge, as signal instances 
of the Divine favour towards us, that his Providence would not 
permit us to be called into this severe controversy, until we were 
grown up to our present strength, had been previously exercised 
in warlike operation, and possessed of the means of defending 
ourselves. With hearts fortified with these animating reflections, 
we most solemnly, before God and the world, declare, that, exert- 

' From this point the declaration follows Jefferson's draft- — Ed. 



1775] DECLARATION OF CAUSES 183 

ing the utmost energy of those powers, which our beneficent 
Creator hath graciously bestowed upon us, the arms we have been 
compelled by our enemies to assume, we will, in defiance of 
every hazard, with unabating firmness and perseverence, employ 
for the preservation of our liberties; being with one mind re- 
solved to die freemen rather then to live slaves. 

Lest this declaration should disquiet the minds of our friends 
and fellow-subjects in any part of the empire, we assure them 
that we mean not to dissolve that union which has so long and so 
happily subsisted between us, and which we sincerely wish to see 
restored. — Necessity has not yet driven us into that desperate 
measure, or induced us to excite any other nation to war against 
them. — We have not raised armies with ambitious designs of 
separating from Great-Britain, and establishing independent 
states. We fight not for glory or for conquest. We exhibit to 
mankind the remarkable spectacle of a people attacked by unpro- 
voked enemies, without any imputation or even suspicion of 
offence. They boast of their privileges and civilization, and yet 
proffer no milder conditions than servitude or death. 

In our own native land, in defence of the freedom that is our 
birth-right, and which we ever enjoyed till the late violation of 
it — for the protection of our property, acquired solely by the 
honest industry of our fore-fathers and ourselves, against violence 
actually offered, we have taken up arms. We shall lay them 
down when hostilities shall cease on the part of the aggressors, 
and all danger of their being renewed shall be removed, and not 
before. 

With an humble confidence in the mercies of the supreme and 
impartial Judge and Ruler of the Universe, we most devoutly 
implore his divine goodness to protect us happily through this 
great conflict, to dispose our adversaries to reconciliation on 
reasonable terms, and thereby to relieve the empire from the 
calamities of civil war. 



184 REPORT OxN LORD NORTH'S RESOLUTION [July 31 

No. 48. Report on Lord North's Concilia- 
tory Resolution 

July 31, 1775 

Lord North's offer of conciliation came before the Continental Congress 
May 26, 1775, in the form of a communication from the assembly of New- 
Jersey; it was also transmitted later by the assemblies of Pennsylvania and 
Virginia. A memorandum from Lord North, written by Grey Cooper, under- 
secretary of the treasury, urging acceptance of the proffered terms, was sub- 
mitted May 30. July 22, the declaration of causes and other papers having 
been disposed of, Franklin, Jefferson, John Adams, and Richard Henry Lee 
were appointed a committee to consider and report on the resolution. The 
report, drawn by Jefferson on the lines of a report of the Virginia House of 
Burgesses, June 10, on the same resolution, was brought in July 25, and, on 
the 31st, agreed to. 

References. — Text in Journals of Congress (ed. 1800), I., 175-178. 
The Virginia report is in Force's American Archives, Fourth Series, II., 

I2CO-I202. 

[The report recites the resolution of Lord North, and con- 
tinues:] 

The Congress took the said resolution into consideration, and 
are, thereupon, of opinion. 

That the colonies of America are entitled to the sole and exclu- 
sive privilege of giving and granting their own money: that this 
involves a right of deliberating whether they will make any gift 
for what purposes it shall be made, and what shall be its amount ; 
and that it is a high breach of this privilege for any body of men, 
extraneous to their constitutions, to prescribe the purposes for 
which money shall be levied on them, to take to themselves the 
authority of judging of their conditions, circumstances and situa- 
tions, and of determining the amount of the contribution to be 
levied. 

That as the colonies possess a right of appropriating their gifts, 
so are they entitled at all times to enquire into their application, 
to see that they be not wasted among the venal and corrupt for 
the purpose of undermining the civil rights of the givers, nor yet 
be diverted to the support of standing armies, inconsistent with 
their freedom and subversive of their quiet. To propose, there- 
fore, as this resolution does, that the monies given by the colo- 



1775] REPORT ON LORD NORTH'S RESOLUTION 185 

nies shall be subject to the disposal of parliament alone, is to 
propose that they shall relinquish this right of enquiry, and put 
it in the power of others to render their gifts ruinous, in propor- 
tion as they are liberal. 

That this privilege of giving or of withholding our monies, is 
an important barrier against the undue exertion of prerogative, 
which, if left altogether without controul, may be exercised to our 
great oppression; and all history shows how efficacious is its 
intercessions for redress of grievances and re-establishment of 
rights, and how improvident it would be to part with so powerful 
a mediator. 

We are of opinion that the proposition contained in this reso- 
lution is unreasonable and insidious: Unreasonable, because, 
if we declare we accede to it, we declare, without reservation, 
we will purchace the favour of parliament, not knowing at the 
same time at what price they will please to estimate their favour; 
it is insidious, because, individual colonies, having bid and bidden 
again, till they find the avidity of the seller too great for all their 
powers to satisfy; are then to return into opposition, divided 
from their sister colonies whom the minister will have previously 
detached by a grant of easier terms, or by an artful procrastination 
of a definitive answer. 

That the suspension of the exercise of their pretended power 
of taxation being expressly made commensurate with the con- 
tinuance of our gifts, these must be perpetual to make that so. 
Whereas no experience has shewn that a gift of perpetual revenue 
secures a perpetual return of duty or of kind disposition. On 
the contrary, the parliament itself, wisely attentive to this obser- 
vation, are in the established practice of granting their supplies 
from year to year only. 

Desirous and determined, as we are, to consider, in the most 
dispassionate view, every seeming advance towards a reconcilia- 
tion made by the British parliament, let our brethren of Britain 
reflect, what would have been the sacrifice to men of free spirits, 
had even fair terms been proffered, as these insidious proposals 
were with circumstances of insult and defiance. A proposition 
to give our money, accompanied with large fleets and armies, 
seems addressed to our fears rather than to our freedom. With 
what patience would Britons have received articles of treaty from 



1 86 REPORT ON LORD NORTH'S RESOLUTION [July 31 

any power on earth when borne on the point of the bayonet by 
military plenipotentiaries ? 

We think the attempt unnecessary to raise upon us by force or 
by threats our proportional contributions to the common defence, 
when all know, and themselves acknowledge, we have fully con- 
tributed, whenever called upon to do so in the character of free- 
men. 

We are of opinion it is not just that the colonies should be 
required to oblige themselves to other contributions, while Great- 
Britain possesses a monopoly of their trade. This of itself lays 
them under heavy contribution. To demand, therefore, addi- 
tional aids in the form of a tax, is to demand the double of their 
equal proportion: if we are to contribute equally with the other 
parts of the empire, let us equally with them enjoy free commerce 
with the whole world. But while the restrictions on our trade 
shut to us the resources of wealth, is it just we should bear all 
other burthens equally with those to whom every resource is open ? 

We conceive that the British parliament has no right to inter- 
meddle with our provisions for the support of civil government, 
or administration of justice. The provisions we have made, are 
such as please ourselves, and are agreeable to our own circum- 
stances: They answer the substantial purposes of government 
and of justice, and other purposes than these should not be an- 
swered. We do not mean that our people shall be burthened 
with oppressive taxes, to provide sinecures for the idle or the 
wicked, under colour of providing for a civil list. While parlia- 
ment pursue their plan of civil government within their own 
jurisdiction, we also hope to pursue ours without molestation. 

We are of opinion the proposition is altogether unsatisfactory, 
because it imports only a suspension of the mode, not a renuncia- 
tion of the pretended right to tax us: because, too, it does not 
propose to repeal the several acts of parliament passed for the 
purposes of restraining the trade, and altering the form of gov- 
ernment of one of our colonies: extending the boundaries and 
changing the government of Quebec; enlarging the jurisdiction 
of the courts of admiralty and vice-admiralty ; taking from us the 
rights of trial by a jury of the vicinage, in cases affecting both 
life and property; transporting us into other countries to be tried 
for criminal offences; e.xempting, by mock-trial, the murderers 



1775 REPORT ON LORD NORTH'S RESOLUTION 187 

of colonists from punishment; and quartering soldiers on us in 
times of profound peace. Nor do they renounce the power of 
suspending our own legislatures, and for [of] legislating for us 
themselves in all cases whatsoever. On the contrary, to shew 
they mean to [no] discontinuance of injury, they pass acts, at 
the very time of holding out this proposition, for restraining the 
commerce and fisheries of the provinces of New-England, and 
for interdicting the trade of other colonies with all foreign nations, 
and with each other. This proves, unequivocally, they mean not 
to relinquish the exercise of indiscriminate legislation over us. 

Upon the whole, this proposition seems to have been held up 
to the world, to deceive it into a belief that there was nothing in 
dispute between us but the mode of levying ta.xes; and that the 
parliament having now been so good as to give up this, the colo- 
nies are unreasonable if not perfectly satisfied: Whereas, in 
truth, our adversaries still claim a right of demanding ad libitum, 
and of taxing us themselves to the full amount of their demand, 
if we do comply with it. This leaves us without any thing we 
can call property. But, what is of more importance, and what 
in this proposal they keep out of sight, as if no such point was 
now in contest between us, they claim a right to alter our charters 
and establish laws, and leave us without any security for our lives 
and liberties. The proposition seems also to have been calculated 
more particularly to lull into fatal security, our well-affected 
fellow-subjects on the other side the water, till time should be 
given for the operation of those arms, which a British minister 
pronounced would instantaneously reduce the "cowardly" sons 
of America to unreserved submission. But, when the world 
reflects, how inadequate to justice are these vaunted terms ; w-hen 
it attends to the rapid and bold succession of injuries, which, 
during the course of eleven years, have been aimed at these 
colonies; when it reviews the pacific and respectful expostula- 
tions, which, during that whole time, were the sole arms we 
opposed to them; when it observes that our complaints were 
either not heard at all, or were answered with new and accumu- 
lated injuries; when it recollects that the minister himself, on 
an early occasion, declared, "that he would never treat with 
America, till he had brought her to his feet," and that an avowed 
partisan of ministry has more lately denounced against us the 



l88 PROCLAMATION OF REBELLION [August 23 

dreadful sentence, "deleiida est Carthago;" that this was done 
in presence of a British senate, and being unreproved by them, 
must be taken to be their own sentiment, (especially as the pur- 
pose has already in part been carried into execution, by their 
treatment of Boston and burning of Charlestown ;) when it con- 
siders the great armaments with which they have invaded us, and 
the circumstances of cruelty with which these have commenced 
and prosecuted hostilities; when these things, we say, are laid 
together and attentively considered, can the world be deceived 
into an opinion that we are unreasonable, or can it hesitate to 
believe with us, that nothing but our own exertions may defeat 
the ministerial sentence of death or abject submission. 



No. 49. Proclamation of Rebellion 

August 23, 1775 

The party in Congress which still hoped for reconciliation succeeded, June 
3, 1775, in passing a resolution for the appointment of a committee to prepare 
a petition to the King; and Dickinson, Johnson, John Rutledge, Jay, and 
Franklin were chosen by ballot as the members of the committee. The 
petition, drafted by Dickinson, was reported June 19, taken up for considera- 
tion July 4, and the following day agreed to. On the 8th the engrossed copy 
was signed by the members present. The petition, together with other ad- 
dresses adopted by the Congress, was entrusted to Richard Penn, to be carried 
to England and laid before the King. The petition was the last offer of 
reconciliation made by Congress; and the decision of the question of inde- 
pendence was thought by many to depend upon its reception. Already, in 
January, before the first petition had been laid before Parliament, the Privy 
Council had decided that force should be used to suppress the rebellion, 
and that all persons resisting the King should be proclaimed traitors. The 
attention of Parliament, however, was immediately taken up with the con- 
ciliatory proposals of Chatham, Burke, and Lord North, and the acts restrain- 
ing the trade of the northern and southern colonies; and the proclamation 
was not then issued. In the mean time, the British and .\merican forces came 
into collision at Lexington, Concord, and Bunker Hill, and Congress chose 
Washington as commander-in-chief of the American army. The news of 
these proceedings fixed the determination of the King, and he ordered the 
proclamation to be drawn up. On the 23d of August, the day on which 
Richard Penn and Arthur Lee were to have presented the "olive branch" 
petition to Lord Dartmouth, the proclamation was issued. The petition 
was handed to Lord Dartmouth September i, but the colonial representa- 



1775] PROCLAMATION OF REBELLION 189 

tives were refused an audience with the King, and were finally informed that 
no answer would be given. The news of the rejection of the petition reached 
America October 31. November 3, Congress recommended the people of 
New Hampshire to establish a form of government. December 6, a formal 
report on the proclamation was agreed to, in which, after repudiating the 
charge of treason. Congress declared that "whatever punishment shall be 
inflicted upon any persons in the power of our enemies, for favouring, aiding, 
or abetting the cause of American liberty, shall be retaliated in the same kind, 
and the same degree, upon those in our power, who have favoured, aided, or 
abetted, or shall favour, aid, or abet the system of ministerial oppression." 

References. — Text in Force's American Archives, Fourth Series, III., 
240, 241. The report of December 6 is in the Journals of Congress (ed. 1800, 
I., 263-265; Ford's ed., III., 409-412). The best account of events is in 
Frothingham's Rise of the Republic, chap. 10. The petition of July 8 is in 
MacDonald's Select Charters, No. 77. 

George R. 

Whereas many of our subjects in divers parts of our Colonies 
and Plantations in North America, misled by dangerous and ill 
designing men, and forgetting the allegiance which they owe to 
the power that has protected and supported them; after various 
disorderly acts committed in disturbance of the publick peace, 
to the obstruction of lawful commerce, and to the oppression of 
our loyal subjects carrying on the same ; have at length proceeded 
to open and avowed rebellion, by arraying themselves in a hostile 
manner, to withstand the execution of the law, and traitorously 
preparing, ordering and levying war against us: And whereas, 
there is reason to apprehend that such rebellion hath been much 
promoted and encouraged by the traitorous correspondence, 
counsels and comfort of divers wicked and desperate persons 
within this realm: To the end therefore, that none of our sub- 
jects may neglect or violate their duty through ignorance thereof, 
or through any doubt of the protection which the law will afford 
to their loyalty and zeal, we have thought fit, by and with the 
advice of our Privy Council, to issue our Royal Proclamation, 
hereby declaring, that not only all our Officers, civil and military, 
are obliged to exert their utmost endeavours to suppress such 
rebellion, and to bring the traitors to justice, but that all our 
subjects of this Realm, and the dominions thereunto belonging, 
are bound by law to be aiding and assisting in the suppression of 
such rebelUon, and to disclose and make known all traitorous 
conspiracies and attempts against us, our crown and dignity ; and 



IQO DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE [July 4 

we do accordingly strictly charge and command all our Officers, 
as well civil as military, and all others our obedient and loyal 
subjects, to use their utmost endeavours to withstand and suppress 
such rebellion, and to disclose and make known all treasons and 
traitorous conspiracies which they shall know to be against us, 
our crown and dignity; and for- that purpose, that they transmit 
to one of our principal Secretaries of State, or other proper offi- 
cer, due and full information of all persons who shall be found 
carrying on correspondence with, or in any manner or degree 
aiding or abetting the persons now in open arms and rebellion 
against our Government, within any of our Colonies and Planta- 
tions in North America, in order to bring to condign punishment 
the authors, prepetrators, and abetters of such traitorous designs. 
Given at our Court at St. James's the twenty-third day of 
August, one thousand seven hundred and seventy-five, in the 
fifteenth year of our reign. 

God save the King. 



No. 50. Declaration of Independence 

July 4, 1776 

June 7, 1776, Richard Henry Lee of Virginia submitted to the Continental 
Congress three resolutions, the first of which declared "That these United 
Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States, that they 
are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political 
connection between them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, 
totally dissolved." The resolutions were seconded by John Adams, and on 
the loth a committee, consisting of Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin 
Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert R. Livingstone, was appointed "to 
prepare a declaration to the effect of the said first resolution." On the 28th 
the committee brought in a draft of a declaration of independence. The reso- 
lution previously submitted was adopted July 2; on the 4th the Declaration of 
Independence was agreed to, and signed by John Hancock as president of the 
Congress. Congress directed that copies be sent "to the several Assemblies, 
Conventions, and Committees or Councils of Safety, and to the several com- 
manding officers of the continental troops; that it be proclaimed in each of 
the United States, and at the head of the army." The members of Congress 
signed the Declaration August 2. 

References. — Text in Revised Statutes (ed. 1878). There are many 
reprints. A facsimile of the engrossed copy is in Force's American Archives, 



1776] DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 191 

series V., vol. I., at p. 1597; a printed copy showing Jefferson's original 
draft and the changes made by Congress is in the Madison Papers, I., 19-27. 
The Journal of Congress (ed. 1800, II. ; Ford's ed., V.) gives the proceedings; 
Jefferson's notes of the debates are in the Madison Papers, I. Bancroft's 
United States (ed. i860), VIII., chaps. 69, 70, gives abstracts of speeches 
in Congress, and a discussion of the Declaration itself. 

In Congress, July 4, 1776, 

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States 
OF America, 

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for 
one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected 
them with another, and to assume among the Powers of the earth, 
the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and 
of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of 
mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel 
them to the separation. 

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created 
equal, "that they are endowed by their Creator with certain un- 
alienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pur- 
suit of Happiness. That to secure these rights. Governments are 
instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent 
of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes 
destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or 
to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its founda- 
tion on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as 
to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happi- 
ness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long es- 
tablished should not be changed for light and transient causes; 
and accordingly all experience hath shown, that mankind are more 
disposed to suffer, while evils are sufiferable, than to right them- 
selves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But 
when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably 
the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute 
Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw ofif such 
Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. 
— Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies ; and such 
is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former 



192 DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE [July 4 

Systems of Gov^ernment. The history of the present King of Great 
Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having 
in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these 
States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world. 

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and 
necessary for the public good. 

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and 
pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his 
Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has 
utterly neglected to attend to them. 

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of 
large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the 
right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to 
them and formidable to tyrants only. 

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, 
uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public 
Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance 
with his measures. 

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for oppos- 
ing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people. 

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause 
others to be elected; whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable 
of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their 
exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all 
the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within. 

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; 
for that purpose obstructing the Laws of Naturalization of For- 
eigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migration 
hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands. 

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his 
Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers. 

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure 
of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries. 

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither 
swarms of Officers to harass our People, and eat out their substance. 

He has kept among us, in times of peace. Standing Armies 
without the Consent of our legislature. 

He has affected to render the Military independent of and 
superior to the Civil Power. 



1776] DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 193 

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction 
foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; 
giving his Assent to their acts of pretended legislation: 

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us : 

For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from Punishment for any 
Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these 
States: 

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world : 

For imposing taxes on us without our Consent : 

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury : 

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended 
offences : 

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbour- 
ing Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and 
enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and 
fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these 
Colonies : 

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable 
Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments: 

For suspending our own Legislature, and declaring themselves 
invested with Power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever. 

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his 
Protection and waging War against us. 

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our 
towns, and destroyed the lives of our people. 

He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign merce- 
naries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, 
already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely 
paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the 
Head of a civilized nation. 

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the 
high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the 
executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves 
by their Hands. 

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has 
endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the 
merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an 
undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions. 

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for 



194 DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE [J uly 4 

Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have 
been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose charac- 
ter is thus marked by every act which may dctinc a Tyrant, is 
unfit to be the ruler of a, free People. 

Nor have We been wanting in attention to our Brittish brethren. 
We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their 
legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We 
have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and 
settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and 
magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our com- 
mon kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably 
interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have 
been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, 
therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Sepa- 
ration, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies 
in War, in Peace Friends. 

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of 
America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Su- 
preme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, 
in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colo- 
nies, solemnly publish and declare. That these United Colonies 
are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that 
they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and 
that all political connection between them and the State of Great 
Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free 
and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, con- 
clude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do 
all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of 
right do. .\nd for the support of this Declaration, with a firm 
reliance on the Protection of Divine Providence, we mutually 
pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred 
Honor. 

JOHN HANCOCK.^ 



* The remaining signatures are onutted. — Ed. 



1776] ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION 195 



No. 51. Articles of Confederation 

November 15, 1777 

June ii, 1776, the Continental Congress resolved "that a committee be 
appointed to prepare and digest the form of a confederation to be entered 
into between these colonies." The committee, consisting of one member 
from each of the colonies except New Jersey, was appointed the following 
day. A plan drawn up by John Dickinson of Delaware, a member of the 
committee, was reported July 12, considered in Committee of the Whole 
House July 22, and debated at intervals until Nov. 15, 1777, when, with some 
amendments, it was agreed to. Congress directed that "these articles shall 
be proposed to the legislatures of all the United States, to be considered, and 
if approved of by them, they are advised to authorize their delegates to ratify 
the same in the Congress of the United States; which being done, the same 
shall become conclusive." A form of circular letter to accompany the Arti- 
cles was adopted Nov. 17; June 26, 1778, a form of ratification was agreed 
upon. The delegates from the several States signed the Articles as follows: 
New Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay, Rhode Island and Providence Planta- 
tions, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia and South Carolina, 
July 9, 1778; North Carolina, July 21, 1778; Georgia, July 24, 1778; New 
Jersey, Nov. 26, 1778; Delaware, May 5, 1779; Maryland, March i, 1781. 
Congress met under the Articles March 2, 1781. 

References. — Text in Revised Statutes (ed. 1878). There are numerous 
reprints. The proceedings of Congress are in the Journal (ed. 1800, II.- 
VII.; Ford'sed., V.-IX.); Jefferson's notes are in EUiot's Z?efca/ei (ed. 1836), 
I., 100-107. The circular letter accompanying the Articles is also in Elliot, 
I., 99, 100. Story's Commentaries (ed. 1833), I., 217-223, gives an analysis 
of the Articles. 

To all to whom these Presents shall come, we the undersigned 
Delegates of the States affixed to our Names send greeting. 

Whereas the Delegates of the United States of America in Con- 
gress assembled did on the fifteenth day of November in the year 
of our Lord One Thousand Seven Hundred and Seventy-seven, 
and in the Second Year of the Independence of America agree to 
certain articles of Confederation and perpetual Union between 
the States of Newhampshire, Massachusetts-bay, Rhodeisland 
and Providence Plantations, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, 
Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North-Carolina, 
South-Carolina and Georgia in the Words following, viz. 

"Articles of Confederation and perpetual Union between the 
States of Newhamshire, Massachusetts-bay, Rhodeisland and 



196 ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION [November 15 

Providence Plantations, Connecticut, New-York, New-Jersey, 
Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North-Carolina, 
South-Carolina and Georgia. 

Article I. The stile of this confederacy shall be "The United 
States of America." 

Article II. Each State retains its sovereignty, freedom and 
independence, and every power, jurisdiction and right, which is 
not by this confederation expressly delegated to the United States, 
in Congress assembled. 

Article III. The said States hereby severally enter into a firm 
league of friendship with each other, for their common defence, 
the security of their liberties, and their mutual and general welfare, 
binding themselves to assist each other, against all force offered 
to, or attacks made upon them, or any of them, on account of 
religion, sovereignty, trade, or any other pretence whatever. 

Article IV. The better to secure and perpetuate mutual 
friendship and intercourse among the people of the different 
States in this Union, the free inhabitants of each of these States, 
paupers, vagabonds and fugitives from justice excepted, shall be 
entitled to all privileges and immunities of free citizens in the 
several States; and the people of each State shall have free in- 
gress and regress to and from any other State, and shall enjoy 
therein all the privileges of trade and commerce, subject to the 
same duties, impositions and restrictions as the inhabitants thereof 
respectively, provided that such restrictions shall not extend so 
far as to prevent the removal of property imported into any 
Statp, to any other state of which the owner is an inhabitant; 
provided also that no imposition, duties or restriction shall be 
laid by any State, on the property of the United States, or either 
of them. 

If any Person guilty of, or charged with treason, felony, or 
other high misdemeanor in any State, shall tlee from justice, and 
be found in any of the United States, he shall upon demand of 
the Governor or Executive power, of the State from which he fled, 
be delivered up and removed to the State having jurisdiction of 
his offence. 

Full faith and credit shall be given in each of these States to 
the records, acts and judicial proceedings of the courts and magis- 
trates of every other State. 



1777] ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION 197 

Article V. For the more convenient management of the gen- 
eral interest of the United States, delegates shall be annually 
appointed in such manner as the legislature of each State shall 
direct, to meet in Congress on the first Monday in November, 
in every year, with a power reserved to each State, to recall its 
delegates, or any of them, at any time within the year, and to 
send others in their stead, for the remainder of the year. 

No State shall be represented in Congress by less than two, nor 
by more than seven members; and no person shall be capable of 
being a delegate for more than three years in any term of six 
years; nor shall any person, being a delegate, be capable of hold- 
ing any office under the United States, for which he, or another 
for his benefit receives any salary, fees or emolument of any kind. 

Each State shall maintain its own delegates in a meeting of the 
States, and while they act as members of the committee of the 
States. 

In determining questions in the United States, in Congress 
assembled, each State shall have one vote. 

Freedom of speech and debate in Congress shall not be im- 
peached or questioned in any court, or place out of Congress, and 
the members of Congress shall be protected in their persons from 
arrests and imprisonments, during the time of their going to and 
from, and attendance on Congress, except for treason, felony, or 
breach of the peace. 

Article VI. No State without the consent of the United States 
in Congress assembled, shall send any embassy to, or receive any 
embassy from, or enter into any conference, agreement, alliance 
or treaty with any king, prince or state; nor shall any person 
holding any office of profit or trust under the United States, or 
any of them, accept of any present, emolument, office or title of 
any kind whatever from any king, prince or foreign state; nor 
shall the United States in Congress assembled, or any of them, 
grant any title of nobility. 

No two or more States shall enter into any treaty, confedera- 
tion or aUiance whatever between them, without the consent of 
the United States in Congress assembled, specifying accurately 
the purposes for which the same is to be entered into, and how 
long it shall continue. 

No State shall lay any imposts or duties, which may interfere 



198 ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION [November 15 

with any stipulations in treaties, entered into by the United States 
in Congress assembled, with any king, prince or state, in pursu- 
ance of any treaties already proposed by Congress, to the courts 
of France and Spain. 

No vessels of war shall be kept up in time of peace by any 
State, except such number only, as shall be deemed necessary by 
the United States in Congress assembled, for the defence of such 
State, or its trade ; nor shall any body of forces be kept up by any 
State, in time of peace, except such number only, as in the judg- 
ment of the United States, in Congress assembled, shall be deemed 
requisite to garrison the forts necessary for the defence of such 
State ; but every State shall always keep up a well regulated and 
disciplined militia, sufficiently armed and accoutered, and shall 
provide and constantly have ready for use, in public stores, a due 
number of field pieces and tents, and a proper quantity of arms, 
ammunition and camp equipage. 

No State shall engage in any war without the consent of the 
United States in Congress assembled, unless such State be actually 
invaded by enemies, or shall have received certain advice of a 
resolution being formed by some nation of Indians to invade such 
State, and the danger is so imminent as not to admit of a delay, 
till the United States in Congress assembled can be consulted: 
nor shall any State grant commissions to any ships or vessels of 
war, nor letters of marque or reprisal, except it be after a declara- 
tion of war by the United States in Congress assembled, and then 
only against the kingdom or state and the subjects thereof, against 
which war has been so declared, and .under such regulations as 
shall be established by the United States in Congress assembled, 
unless such State be infested by pirates, in which case vessels of 
war may be fitted out for that occasion, and kept so long as the 
danger shall continue, or until the United States in Congress 
assembled shall determine otherwise. 

Article VII. When land-forces are raised by any State for 
the common defence, all officers of or under the rank of colonel, 
shall be appointed by the Legislature of each State respectively by 
whom such forces shall be raised, or in such manner as such State 
shall direct, and all vacancies shall be filled up by the State which 
first made the appointment. 

Article VIII. All charges of war, and all other expenses that 



1777] ARTICLES OF CONFEDER.\TION 199 

shall be incurred for the common defence or general welfare, and 
allowed by the United States in Congress assembled, shall be de- 
frayed out of a common treasury, which shall be supplied by the 
several States, in proportion to the value of all land within each 
State, granted to or surveyed for any person, as such land and the 
buildings and improvements thereon shall be estimated according 
to such mode as the United States in Congress assembled, shall 
from time to time direct and appoint. 

The taxes for paying that proportion shall be laid and levied by 
the authority and direction of the Legislatures of the several States 
within the time agreed upon by the United States in Congress 
assembled. 

Article IX. The United States in Congress assembled, shall 
have the sole and e.xclusive right and power of determining on 
peace and war, except in the cases mentioned in the sixth article 
— of sending and receiving ambassadors — entering into treaties 
and alliances, provided that no treaty of commerce shall be made 
whereby the legislative power of the respective States shall be 
restrained from imposing such imposts and duties on foreigners, 
as their own people are subjected to, or from prohibiting the ex- 
portation or importation of any species of goods or commodities 
whatsoever — of establishing rules for deciding in all cases, what 
captures on land or water shall be legal, and in what manner prizes 
taken by land or naval forces in the service of the United States 
shall be divided or appropriated — of granting letters of marque 
and reprisal in times of peace — appointing courts for the trial of 
piracies and felonies committed on the high seas and establishing 
courts for receiving and determining finally appeals in all cases of 
captures, provided that no member of Congress shall be appointed 
a judge of any of the said courts. 

The United States in Congress assembled shall also be the last 
resort on appeal in all disputes and differences now subsisting or 
that hereafter may arise between two or more States concerning 
boundary, jurisdiction or any other cause whatever; which au- 
thority shall always be exercised in the manner following. When- 
ever the legislative or executive authority or lawful agent of any 
State in controversy with another shall present a petition to Con- 
gress, stating the matter in question and praying for a hearing, 
notice thereof shall be given by order of Congress to the legisla- 



200 ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION [November 15 

tive or executive authority of the other State in controversy, and 
a day assigned for the appearance of the parties by their lawful 
agents, who shall then be directed to appoint by joint consent, 
commissioners or judges to constitute a court for hearing and 
determining the matter in question : but if they cannot agree, 
Congress shall name three persons out of each of the United 
States, and from the list of such persons each party shall alter- 
nately strike out one, the petitioners beginning, until the number 
shall be reduced to thirteen; and from that number not less than 
seven, nor more than nine names as Congress shall direct, shall in 
the presence of Congress be drawn out by lot, and the persons 
whose names shall be so drawn or any five or them, shall be com- 
missioners or judges, to hear and finally determine the contro- 
versy, so always as a major part of the judges who shall hear the 
cause shall agree in the determination : and if either party shall 
neglect to attend at the day appointed, without showing reasons, 
which Congress shall judge sufl&cient, or being present shall refuse 
to strike, the Congress shall proceed to nominate three persons 
out of each State, and the Secretary of Congress shall strike in 
behalf of such party absent or refusing; and the judgment and 
sentence of the court to be appointed, in the manner before pre- 
scribed, shall be final and conclusive; and if any of the parties 
shall refuse to submit to the authority of such court, or to appear 
or defend their claim or cause, the court shall nevertheless proceed 
to pronounce sentence, or judgment, which shall in like m.anner 
be final and decisive, the judgment or sentence and other pro- 
ceedings being in either case transmitted to Congress, and lodged 
among the acts of Congress for the security of the parties con- 
cerned: provided that every commissioner, before he sits in 
judgment, shall take an oath to be administered by one of the 
judges of the supreme or superior court of the State, where the 
cause shall be tried, "well and truly to hear and determine the 
matter in question, according to the best of his judgment, without 
favour, affection or hope of reward:" provided also that no State 
shall be deprived of territory for the benefit of the United States. 

All controversies concerning the private right of soil claimed 
under different grants of two or more States, whose jurisdiction 
as they may respect such lands, and the States which passed such 
grants are adjusted, the said grants or either of them being at the 



1777] ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION 201 

same time claimed to have originated antecedent to such settle- 
ment of jurisdiction, shall on the petition of either party to the 
Congress of the United States, be finally determined as near as 
may be in the same manner as is before prescribed for deciding 
disputes respecting territorial jurisdiction between different States. 

The United States in Congress assembled shall also have the 
sole and exclusive right and power of regulating the alloy and 
value of coin struck by their own authority, or by that of the 
respective States — fixing the standard of weights and measures 
throughout the United States — regulating the trade and manag- 
ing all affairs with the Indians, not members of any of the States, 
provided that the legislative right of any State within its own limits 
be not infringed or violated — establishing and regulating post- 
offices from one State to another, throughout all the United 
States, and exacting such postage on the papers passing thro' the 
same as may be requisite to defray the expenses of the said office 
— appointing all officers of the land forces, in the service of the 
United States, excepting regimental officers — appointing all the 
officers of the naval forces, and commissioning all officers what- 
ever in the service of the United States — ■ making rules for the 
government and regulation of the said land and naval forces, and 
directing their operations. 

The United States in Congress assembled shall have authority 
to appoint a committee, to sit in the recess of Congress, to be 
denominated "a Committee of the States," and to consist of one 
delegate from each State; and to appoint such other committees 
and civil officers as may be necessary for manageing the general 
afifairs of the United States under their direction — to appoint one 
of their number to preside, provided that no person be allowed to 
serve in the office of president more than one year in any term of 
three years; to ascertain the necessary sums of money to be 
raised for the service of the United States, and to appropriate and 
apply the same for defraying the public expenses — to borrow 
money, or emit bills on the credit of the United States, transmit- 
ting every half year to the respective States an account of the 
sums of money so borrowed or emitted, — to build and equip a 
navy — to agree upon the number of land forces, and to make 
requisitions from each State for its quota, in proportion to the 
number of white inhabitants in such State; which requisition 



202 ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION [November 15 

shall be binding, and thereupon the Legislature of each State shall 
appoint the regimental officers, raise the men and cloath, arm and 
equip them in a soldier like manner, at the expense of the United 
States; and the officers and men so cloathed, armed and equipped 
shall march to the place appointed, and within the time agreed on 
by the United States in Congress assembled: but if the United 
States in Congress assembled shall, on consideration of circum- 
stances judge proper that any State should not raise men, or should 
raise a smaller number than its quota, and that any other State 
should raise a greater number of men than the quota thereof, such 
extra number shall be raised, officered, cloathed, armed and 
equipped in the same manner as the quota of such State, unless 
the legislature of such State shall judge that such extra number 
cannot be safely spared out of the same, in which case they shall 
raise officer, cloath, arm and equip as many of such extra num- 
ber as they judge can be safely spared. And the officers and men 
so cloathed, armed and equipped, shall march to the place ap- 
pointed, and within the time agreed on by the United States in 
Congress assembled. 
■< The United States in Congress assembled shall never engage 
in a war, nor grant letters of marque and reprisal in time of peace, 
nor enter into any treaties or alliances, nor coin money, nor regu- 
late the value thereof, nor ascertain the sums and expenses neces- 
sary for the defence and welfare of the United States, or any of 
them, nor emit bills, nor borrow money on the credit of the 
United States, nor appropriate money, nor agree upon the num- 
ber of vessels of war, to be built or purchased, or the number of 
land or sea forces to be raised, nor appoint a commander in chief 
of the army or navy, unless nine States assent to the same: nor 
shall a question on any other point, except for adjourning from 
day to day be determined, unless by the votes of a majority of 
the United States in Congress assembled. 

The Congress of the United States shall have power to adjourn 
to any time within the year, and to any place within the United 
States, so that no period of adjournment be for a longer duration 
than the space of six months, and shall publish the journal of their 
proceedings monthly, except such parts thereof relating to treaties, 
alliances or military operations, as in their judgment require se- 
cresy; and the yeas and nays of the delegates of each State on 



17771 . ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION 203 

any question shall be entered on the journal, when it is desired 
by any delegate; and the delegates of a State, or any of them, 
at his or their request shall be furnished with a transcript of the 
said journal, except such parts as are above excepted, to lay before 
the Legislatures of the several States. 

Article X. The committee of the States, or any nine of 
them, shall be authorized to execute, in the recess of Congress, 
such of the powers of Congress as the United States in Congress 
assembled, by the consent of nins States, shall from time to time 
think expedient to vest them with ; provided that no power be 
delegated to the said committee, for the exercise of which, by the 
articles of confederation, the voice of nine States irr the Congress 
of the United States assembled is requisite. 

Article XI. Canada acceding to this confederation, and join- 
ing in the measures of the United States, shall be admitted into, 
and entitled to all the advantages of this Union: but no other 
colony shall be admitted into the same, unless such admission be 
agreed to by nine States. 

Article XII. All bills of credit emitted, monies borrowed 
and debts contracted by, or under the authority of Congress, 
before the assembling of the United States, in pursuance of the 
present confederation, shall be deemed and considered as a 
charge against the United States, for payment and satisfaction 
whereof the said United States, and the pubhc faith are hereby 
solemnly pledged. 

Article XIII. Every State shall abide by the determinations 
of the United States in Congress assembled, on all questions 
which by this confederation are submitted to them. And the 
articles of this confederation shall be inviolably observed by 
every State, and the Union shall be perpetual; nor shall any 
alteration at any time hereafter be made in any of them; unless 
such alteration be agreed to in a Congress of the United States, 
and be afterwards confirmed by the Legislatures of every State. 

And whereas it hath pleased the Great Governor of the World 
to incline the hearts of the Legislatures we respectively represent 
in Congress, to approve of, and to authorize us to ratify the said 
articles of confederation and perpetual union. Know ye that we 
the undersigned delegates, by virtue of the power and authority 
to us given for that purpose, do by these presents, in the name 



204 TREATY OF PARIS [September 5 

and in behalf of our respective constituents, fully and entirely 
ratify and confirm each and every of the said articles of confed- 
eration and perpetual union, and all and singular the matters and 
things therein contained: and we do further solemnly plight and 
engage the faith of our respective constituents, that they shall 
abide by the determinations of the United States in Congress 
assembled, on all questions, which by the said confederation are 
submitted to them. And that the articles thereof shall be inv'io- 
lably observed by the States we respectively represent, and that 
the Union shall be perpetual. 

In witness whereof we have hereunto set our hands in Congress. 
Done at Philadelphia in the State of Pennsylvania the ninth day 
of July in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and 
seventy-eight, and in the third year of the independence of 
America.^ 



No. 52. Treaty of Paris 

September 3, 1783 

CoRNWALLis surrendered Oct. 19, 1781. News of the surrender reached 
Versailles Nov. 19, and London Nov. 25, two days before the meeting of Par- 
liament. March 5, 1782, Parliament passed an act enabling the King to make 
peace or a truce until July r, 1783. On the 20th Lord North resigned, and 
the Rockingham ministry came into power, to be followed in July by the Shel- 
burne ministry. England had the task of making peace with America, 
France, Holland, and Spain, a task which was further complicated by the 
existence of alliances between France and America and France and Spain, 
and the hostility of Spain to the United States. Notwithstanding instructions 
from Congress "to be guided by the wishes of the French court," the Amer- 
ican commissioners decided to enter into separate negotiations with Great 
Britain. April 15, 1782, Franklin received from Lord Shelburne the first 
communication relative to a treaty. A provisional treaty was signed at 
Paris Nov. 30, 1782, a cessation of hostiUties being declared Jan. 20, 1783. 
The definitive treaty, in the same terms as the provisional articles, was not 
signed until Sept. 3, 1783, the interval being taken up with the adjustment 
of peace between England and France. Congress ratified the treaty Jan. 14, 
1784. 

References. — Text in U. S. Stat, at Large, VIII., 80-83. The diplo- 
matic correspondence is given by Wharton, Dipl. Corres. of the Amer. Rev., 
v., VI., and Sparks, Dipl. Corres., VI., VII. The course of the negotiations 

* The names of the signers are omitted. — Ed. 



1783] TREATY OF PARIS 205 

is followed in detail by Wharton, Digest of Intern. Law (ed. 1887), III., 
892-956; compare John Jay, in Winsor's Narrative and Critical History, 
VII., 89-169, and correspondence of William Jay and J. Q. Adams in Mag. 
of Amer. Hist., III., 39-45. There are valuable notes in Winsor, op. cit., 
VII., 170-184, on fisheries and northern boundaries under the treaty. Later 
correspondence regarding the non-execution of certain provisions of the 
treaty relative to loyalists' estates and the rights of British creditors in United 
States courts, is in Auier. State Papers, Foreign Relations, I., 18S-243. 

Article I. 

His Britannic Majesty acknowledges the said United States, 
viz. New-Hampshire, Massachusetts-Bay, Rhode-Island and 
Pro\'idence Plantations, Connecticut, New- York, New- Jersey, 
Pennsylvania, Delaware,' Maryland, Virginia, North-Carolina, 
South-Carolina, and Georgia, to be free, sovereign and inde- 
pendent States; that he treats with them as such; and for him- 
self, his heirs and successors, relinquishes all claims to the 
government, propriety and territorial rights of the same, and 
every part thereof. 

Article II. 

And that all disputes which might arise in future, on the sub- 
ject of the boundaries of the said United States, may be pre- 
vented, it is hereby agreed and declared, that the following are, 
and shall be their boundaries, viz. From the north-west angle of 
Nova-Scotia, \\z. that angle which is formed by a line, drawn due 
north from the source of St. Croix river to the Highlands; 
along the said Highlands which diWde those rivers, that empty 
themselves into the river St. La^^Tence, from those which fall 
into the Atlantic ocean, to the northwesternmost head of Con- 
necticut river, thence do^^^l along the middle of that river, to 
the forty-fifth degree of north latitude; from thence, by a line 
due west on said latitude, until it strikes the river Iroquois or 
Cataraquy; thence along the middle of said river into lake 
Ontario, through the middle of said lake until it strikes the com- 
munication by water between that lake and lake Erie; thence 
along the middle of said communication into lake Erie, through 



200 TREATY OF PARIS [Septem'oer 3 

the middle of said lake until it arrives at the water-communica- 
tion between that lake and lake Huron ; thence along the middle 
of said water-communication into the lake Huron ; thence through 
the middle of said lake to the water-communication between that 
lake and lake Superior; thence through lake Superior northward 
of the isles Royal and Phelipeaux, to the Long Lake; thence 
through the middle of said Long Lake, and the water-communi- 
cation between it and the Lake of the Woods, to the said Lake 
of the Woods; thence through ths said lake to the most north- 
western point thereof, and from thence on a due west course to 
the river Mississippi; thence by a line to be drawn along the 
middle of the said river Mississippi until it shall intersect the 
northernmost part of the thirty-first degree of north latitude. 
South by a line to be drawn due east from the determination of 
the Une last mentioned, in the latitude of thirty-one degrees 
north of the Equator, to the middle of the river Apalachicola or 
Catahouche ; thence along the middle thereof to its junction with 
the Flint river; thence strait to the head of St. ]SIary's river; 
and thence down along the middle of St. Mary's river to the 
Atlantic ocean. East by a line to be drawn along the middle 
of the river St. Croix, from its mouth in the Bay of Fundy to its 
source, and from its source directly north to the aforesaid High- 
lands which di\ide the rivers that fall into the Atlantic ocean 
from those which fall into the river St. Lawrence; comprehend- 
ing all islands within twenty leagues of any part of the shores of 
the United States, and lying between lines to be drawn due east 
from the points where the aforesaid boundaries between Nova- 
Scotia on the one part, and East-Florida on the other, shall 
respectively touch the Bay of Fundy and the Atlantic ocean; 
excepting such islands as now are, or heretofore have been 
within the limits of the said province of Nova-Scotia. 

Article HL 

It is agreed that the people of the United States shall continue 
to enjoy unmolested the right to take fish of every kind on the 
Grand Bank, and on all the other banks of Newfoundland; also 
in the gulph of St. La\\Tence, and at all other places in the 
sea, where the inhabitants of both countries used at any time 



1783] TREATY OF PARIS 207 

heretofore to fish; and also that the inhabitants of the United 
States shall have Hbert}- to take fish of every kind on such part 
of the coast of Newfoundland as British fishermen shall use (but 
not to dry or cure the same on that island) ; and also on the coasts, 
bays and creeks of all other of his Britannic Majest}''s domin- 
ions in America; and that the American fishermen shall have 
liberty to dry and cure fish in any of the imsettled bays, harbours 
and creeks of Xova-Scotia, Magdalen islands, and Labrador, so 
long as the same shaU remain unsettled; but so soon as the same 
or either of them shall be settled, it shall not be lawful for the 
said fishermen to dry or cure fish at such settlement, ^^•ithout a 
preWous agreement for that purpose "nith the inhabitants, pro- 
prietors or possessors of the ground. 

Article IV. 

It is agreed that creditors on either side, shall meet -n-ith no 
la\%'fiil impediment to the recover}' of the full value in sterling 
money, of all bona fide debts heretofore contracted. 

Article V. 

It is agreed that the Congress shall earnestly recommend it to 
the legislatures of the respective states, to pro\-ide for the resti- 
tution of all estates, rights and properties, which have been con- 
fiscated, belonging to real British subjects, and also of the estates, 
rights and properties of persons resident in districts in the pos- 
session of his Majesty's arms, and who have not borne arms 
against the said United States. And that persons of any other 
description shall have free liberty to go to any part or parts of 
any of the thirteen United States, and therein to remain twelve 
months, unmolested in their endeavours to obtain the restitution 
of such of their estates, rights and properties, as may have been 
confiscated; and that Congress shall also earnesdy recommend 
to the several states a reconsideration and re\-ision of all acts or 
laws regarding the premises, so as to render the said laws or acts 
perfectly consistent, not only ^\■ith justice and equity, but \\-ith 
that spirit of conciliation, which on the return of the blessing of 
peace should universally prevail. And that Congress shall also 



2o8 TREATY OF PARIS [September 3 

earnestly recommend to the several states, that the estates, rights 
and properties of such last mentioned persons, shall be restored 
to them, they refunding to any persons who may be now in pos- 
session, the bona fide price (where any has been given) which 
such persons may have paid on purchasing any of the said lands, 
rights or properties, since the confiscation. And it is agreed, 
that all persons who have any interest in confiscated lands, either 
by debts, marriage settlements, or otherwise, shall meet with no 
lawful impediment in the prosecution of their just rights. 

Article VI. 

That there shall be no future confiscations made, nor any prose- 
cutions commenced against any person or persons for, or by reason 
of the part which he or they may have taken in the present war; 
and that no person shall, on that account, suffer any future loss 
or damage, either in his person, liberty or property; and that 
those who may be in confinement on such charges, at the time of 
the ratification of the treaty in America, shall be immediately set 
at liberty, and the prosecutions so commenced be discontinued. 

Article VII. 

There shall be a firm and perpetual peace between his Bri- 
tannic Majesty and the said States, and between the subjects of 
the one and the citizens of the other, wherefore all hostilities, 
both by sea and land, shall from henceforth cease: all prisoners 
on both sides shall be set at liberty, and his Britannic Majesty 
shall, with all convenient speed, and without causing any destruc- 
tion, or carrying away any negroes or other property of the Ameri- 
can inhabitants, withdraw all his armies, garrisons and fleets from 
the said United States, and from every port, place and harbour 
within the same; leaving in all fortifications the American artil- 
lery that may be therein; and shall also order and cause all 
archives, records, deeds and papers, belonging to any of the 
said states, or their citizens, which in the course of the war 
may have fallen into the hands of his officers, to be forthwith 
restored and delivered to the proper states and persons to whom 
they belong. 



1783] ORDINANCE OF 1787 209 



Article VIII. 

The navigation of the river Mississippi, from its source to the 
ocean, shall forever remain free and open to the subjects of Great- 
Britain, and the citizens of the United States. 

Article IX. 

In case it should so happen that any place or territory belong- 
ing to Great-Britain or to the United States, should have been 
conquered by the arms of either from the other, before the arrival 
of the said provisional articles in America, it is agreed, that the 
same shall be restored without difficulty, and without requiring 

any compensation.^ 

* * * * *'* * * 



No. 53. Ordinance of 1787 

July 13, 1787 

March i, 1784, the Virginia delegates in Congress, in pursuance of an act 
of the general assembly of that State, passed Dec. 20, 1783, executed a deed 
of cession to the United States of the northwestern territory claimed by Vir- 
ginia; and by an act of April 23 Congress provided a temporary government. 
During the next three years various plans for the government of the territory 
were brought forward. July 11, 1787, a committee, of which Nathan Dane 
of Massachusetts was chairman, reported an ordinance for the government of 
the territory of the United States northwest of the Ohio River; on the 12th a 
clause forbidding slavery in the territory was added as an amendment; and 
on the 13th the bill became a law. By act of Aug. 7, 1789, the Congress of 
the United States continued the ordinance in effect; and the act of May 25, 
1790, extended the main provisions of the ordinance, except the anti-slavery 
section, to territory south of the Ohio River. 

References. — Text in Revised Statutes (ed. 1878). The act of the Vir- 
ginia assembly and the deed of cession are in Poore's Federal and State 
Constitutions, I., 427, 428. iTie act of 1784 is in the Journal of Congress 
(ed. 1800), IX., 109, 110 ; Jefferson's plan is in Randall's Jefferson, I., 397- 
399. The detailed history of the ordinance of 1787, and the paVt played by 
Manasseh Cutler, were first shown by W. F. Poole, in North Anier. Rev., 

' Signed: "D. Hartley, John Adams, B. Franklin, John Jay." — Ed. 
P 



2IO ORDINANCE OF 1787 [July 13 

CXXII., 229-265; the ordinance proposed in May, 1787, is printed by 
Poole, ib., 242-244. A fuller account is in the Life, Journals atid Corre- 
spondence of Manasseh Cutler, I., chap. 8. Barrett's Evolution of the Or- 
dinance of ij8j gives an account of early plans, with maps. See also Life 
and Public Services of Arthur St. Clair, II. (cf. review in Nation, XXXIV., 

383-385)- 

An Ordinance for the governmeni of the territory of the United 
States northwest of the river Ohio. 

Section i. Be it ordained by the United States in Congress 
assembled, That the said territory, for the purposes of temporary 
government, be one district, subject, however, to be divided into 
two districts, as future circumstances may, in the opinion of Con- 
gress, make it expedient. 

[Section 2 relates to the descent and distribution of estates.] 

Sec. 3. Be it ordained by the authority aforesaid, That there 
shall be appointed, from time to time, by Congress, a governor, 
whose commission shall continue in force for the term of three 
years, unless sooner revoked by Congress; he shall reside in the 
district, and have a freehold estate therein in one thousand acres 
of land, while in the exercise of his office. 

Sec. 4. There shall be appointed from time to time, by Con- 
gress, a secretary, whose commission shall continue in force for 
four years, unless sooner revoked; he shall reside in the district, 
and have a freehold estate therein, in five hundred acres of land, 
while in the exercise of his office. It shall be his duty to keep 
and preserve the acts and laws passed by the legislature, and the 
public records of the district, and the proceedings of the governor 
in his executive department, and transmit authentic copies of such 
acts and proceedings every six months to the Secretary of Con- 
gress. There shall also, be appointed a court, to consist of three 
judges, any two of whom to form a court, who shall have a common- 
law jurisdiction, and reside in the district, and have each therein 
a freehold estate, in five hundred acres of land, while in the 
exercise of their offices; and their commissions shall continue in 
force during good behavior. 

Sec. 5. The governor and judges, or a majority of them, shall 
adopt and publish in the district such laws of the original States, 
criminal and civil, as may be necessary, and best suited to the 



1787] ORDINANCE OF 1787 211 

circumstances of the district, and report them to Congress from 
time to time, which laws shall be in force in the district until the 
organization of the general assembly therein, unless disapproved 
of by Congress ; but afterwards the legislature shall have authority 
to alter them as they shall think fit. 

Sec. 6. The governor, for the time being, shall be commander- 
in-chief of the militia, appoint and commission all ofl&cers in the 
same below the rank of general officers; all general officers shall 
be appointed and commissioned by Congress. 

Sec. 7. Pre\-ious to the organization of the general assembly 
the governor shall appoint such magistrates, and other civil officers, 
in each county or township, as he shall find necessary for the 
preservation of the peace and good order in the same. After 
the general assembly shall be organized the powers and duties 
of the magistrates and other ci\-il officers shall be regulated and 
defined by the said assembly; but all magistrates and other civU 
officers, not herein other\^-ise directed, shall, during the con- 
tinuance of this temporary government, be appointed by the 
governor. 

Sec. 8. For the prevention of crimes and injuries, the laws to 
be adopted or made shall have force in all parts of the district, 
and for the execution of process, criminal and ci\-il, the governor 
shall make proper diWsions thereof; and he shall proceed, from 
time to time, as circumstances may require, to lay out the parts 
of the district in which the Indian titles shall have been extin- 
guished, into counties and townships, subject, however, to such 
alterations as may thereafter be made by the legislature. 

Sec. 9. So soon as there shall be five thousand free male 
inhabitants, of fuU age, in the district, upon giWng proof thereof 
to the governor, they shall receive authority, with time and place, 
to elect representatives from their counties or townships, to repre- 
sent them in the general assembly: Provided, That for every five 
hundred free male inhabitants there shall be one representative, 
and so on, progressively, with the number of free male inhabitants, 
shall the right of representation increase, until the number of 
representatives shall amount to twenty-five ; after which the num- 
ber and proportion of representatives shall be regulated by the 
legislature: Provided, That no person be eligible or qualified to 
act as a representative, unless he shall have been a citizen of one 



212 ORDINANCE OF 1787 [July 13 

of the United States three years, and be a resident in the district, 
or unless he shall have resided in the district three years ; and, in 
either case, shall likewise hold in his own right, in fee-simple, two 
hundred acres of land within the same: Provided, also, That a 
freehold in fifty acres of land in the district, having been a citizen 
of one of the States, and being resident in the district, or the like 
freehold and two years' residence in the district, shall be necessary 
to qualify a man as an elector of a representative. 

Sec. 10. The representatives thus elected shall serve for the 
term of two years; and in case of the death of a representative, 
or removal from office, the governor shall issue a writ to the 
county or township, for which he was a member, to elect another 
in his stead, to serve for the residue of the term. 

Sec. II. The general assembly, or legislature, shall consist of 
the governor, legislative council, and a house of representatives. 
The legislative council shall consist of five members, to continue 
in office five years, unless sooner removed by Congress ; any three 
of whom to be a quorum; and the members of the council shall 
be nominated and appointed in the following manner, to wit : As 
soon as representatives shall be elected the governor shall appoint 
a time and place for them to meet together, and when met they 
shall nominate ten persons, residents in the district, and each 
possessed of a freehold in five hundred acres of land, and return 
their names to Congress, five of whom Congress shall appoint and 
commission to serve as aforesaid; and whenever a vacancy shall 
happen in the council, by death or removal from office, the house 
of representatives shall nominate two persons, qualified as afore- 
said, for each vacancy, and return their names to Congress, one 
of whom Congress shall appoint and commission for the residue 
of the -term; and every five years, four months at least before 
the expiration of the time of service of the members of council, 
the said house shall nominate ten persons, qualified as aforesaid, 
and return their names to Congress, five of whom Congress shall 
appoint and commission to serve as members of the council five 
years, unless sooner removed. And the governor, legislative coun- 
cil, and house of representatives shall have authority to make 
laws in all cases for the good government of the district, not 
repugnant to the principles and articles in this ordinance estab- 
lished and declared. And all bills, having passed by a majority 



1787] ORDINANCE OF 1787 213 

in the house, and by a majority in the council, shall be referred 
to the governor for his assent; but no bill, or legislative act 
whatever, shall be of any force without his assent. The governor 
shall have power to convene, prorogue, and dissolve the general 
assembly when, in his opinion, it shall be expedient. 

Sec. 12. [The governor and other officers to take an oath]. As 
soon as a legislature shall be formed in the district, the council 
and house assembled, in one room, shall have authority, by joint 
ballot, to elect a delegate to Congress who shall have a seat in 
Congress, with a right of debating, but not of voting, during this 
temporary government. 

Sec. 13. And for extending the fundamental principles of civil 
and religious liberty, which form the basis whereon these republics, 
their laws and constitutions, are erected ; to fix and establish those 
principles as the basis of all laws, constitutions, and governments, 
which forever hereafter shall be formed in the said territory; 
to provide, also, for the establishment of States, and permanent 
government therein, and for their admission to a share in the 
Federal councils on an equal footing with the original States, at 
as early periods as may be consistent with the general interest : 

Sec. 14. It is hereby ordained and declared, by the authority 
aforesaid, that the following articles shall be considered as articles 
of compact, between the original States and the people and States 
in the said territory, and forever remain unalterable, unless by 
common consent, to wit: 

Article I. 

No person, demeaning himself in a peaceable and orderly man- 
ner, shall ever be molested on account of his mode of worship, or 
religious sentiments, in the said territories. 

Article II. 

The inhabitants of the said territory shall always be entitled to 
the benefits of the writ of habeas corpus, and of the trial by jury; 
of a proportionate representation of the people in the legislature, 
and of judicial proceedings according to the course of common 
law. All persons shall be bailable, unless for capital offences, 



214 ORDINANCE OF 1787 [July 13 

where the proof shall be evident, or the presumption great. All 
fines shall be moderate; and no cruel or unusual punishments 
shall be inflicted. No man shall be deprived of his liberty or 
property, but by the judgment of his peers, or the law of the land, 
and should the public exigencies make it necessary, for the com- 
mon preservation, to take any person's property, or to demand 
his particular services, full compensation shall be made for the 
same. And, in the just preservation of rights and property, it is 
understood and declared, that no law ought ever to be made or 
have force in the said territory, that shall, in any manner whatever, 
interfere with or affect private contracts, or engagements, bona fide, 
and without fraud previously formed. 

Article III. 

Religion, morality, and knowledge being necessary to good 
government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means 
of education shall forever be encouraged. The utmost good faith 
shall always be observed towards the Indians; their lands and 
property shall never be taken from them without their consent; 
and in their property, rights, and liberty they never shall be in- 
vaded or disturbed, unless in just and lawful wars authorized by 
Congress; but laws founded in justice and humanity shall, from 
time to time, be made, for preventing wrongs being done to them, 
and for preserving peace and friendship with them. 

Article IV. 

The said territory, and the States which may be formed therein, 
shall forever remain a part of this confederacy of the United 
States of America, subject to the Articles of Confederation, and to 
such alterations therein as shall be constitutionally made; and 
to all the acts and ordinances of the United States in Congress 
assembled, conformable thereto. The inhabitants and settlers in 
the said territory shall be subject to pay a part of the Federal 
debts, contracted, or to be contracted, and a proportional part 
of the expenses of government to be apportioned on them by 
Congress, according to the same common rule and measure 
by which apportionments thereof shall be made on the other 



1787] ORDINANCE OF 1787 215 

States; and the taxes for paying their proportion shall be laid 
and levied by the authority and direction of the legislatures of the 
district, or districts, or new States, as in the original States, within 
the time agreed upon by the United States in Congress assembled. 
The legislatures of those districts, or new States, shall never inter- 
fere with the primary disposal of the soil by the United States in 
Congress assembled, nor with any regulations Congress may find 
necessary for securing the title in such soil to the bona fide pur- 
chasers. No tax shall be imposed on lands the property of the 
United States; and in no case shall non-resident proprietors be 
taxed higher than residents. The navigable waters leading into 
the Mississippi and Saint Lawrence, and the carrying places 
between the same, shall be common highways, and forever free, 
as well to the inhabitants of the said territory as to the citizens of 
the United States, and those of any other States that may be 
admitted into the confederacy, without any tax, impost, or duty 
therefor. 

Article V. 

There shall be formed in the said territory not less than three 
nor more than five States; and the boundaries of the States, 
as soon as Virginia shall alter her act of cession and consent to 
the same, shall become fixed and established as follows, to wit: 
The western State, in the said territory, shall be bounded by the 
Mississippi, the Ohio, and the Wabash Rivers; a direct line drawn 
from the Wabash and Post Vincents, due north, to the territorial 
line between the United States and Canada; and by the said 
territorial line to the Lake of the Woods and Mississippi. The 
middle State shall be bounded by the said direct line, the Wabash 
from Post Vincents to the Ohio, by the Ohio, by a direct line 
drawn due north from the mouth of the Great Miami to the said 
territorial line, and by the said territorial line. The eastern State 
shall be bounded by the last-mentioned direct line, the Ohio, 
Pennsylvania, and the said territorial line: Provided, however, 
And it is further understood and declared, that the boundaries 
of these three States shall be subject so far to be altered, that, if 
Congress shall hereafter find it expedient, they shall have authority 
to form one or two States in that part of the said territory which 



2l6 CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES [Sept. 17 

lies north of an east and west line drawn through the southerly- 
bend or extreme of Lake Michigan. And whenever any of the 
said States shall have sixty thousand free inhabitants therein, such 
State shall be admitted, by its delegates, into the Congress of the 
United States, on an equal footing with the original States, in all 
respects whatever; and shall be at liberty to form a permanent 
constitution and State government: Provided, The constitution 
and government, so to be formed, shall be republican, and in 
conformity to the principles contained in these articles, and, so 
far as it can be consistent with the general interest of the con- 
federacy, such admission shall be allowed at an earlier period, and 
when there may be a less number of free inhabitants in the State 
than sixty thousand. 

Article VI. 

There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in the 
said territory, otherwise than in the punishment of crimes, whereof 
the party shall have been duly convicted : Provided always, That 
any person escaping into the same, from whom labor or service is 
lawfully claimed in any one of the original States, such fugitive 
may be lawfully reclaimed, and conveyed to the person claiming 
his or her labor or service as aforesaid. 



No. 54. Constitution of. the United States 

September 17, 1787 

In January, 1786, the legislature of Virginia adopted a resolution provid- 
ing for the appointment of commissioners to confer with representatives from 
other States in regard to the commercial interests of the United States. In 
response to this resolution, delegates from New York, New Jersey, Penn- 
sylvania, Delaware, and Virginia met Sept. i, and reported in favor of a 
convention of representatives from all the States, to meet at Philadelphia in 
May following, to consider what further provisions were needed "to make 
the Constitution of the Federal Government adequate to the exigencies of the 
Union." A resolution favoring a convention was adopted by Congress, Feb. 
21, 1787. The convention was called for May 14; May 25, seven States 
being represented, George Washington was chosen president, and considera- 



1787] CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 21 7 

tion of the proposed constitution was begun. July 24 the provisions as agreed 
upon were sent to a Committee of Detail to be embodied in a formal con- 
stitution. The committee reported Aug. 6; Sept. 8 a Committee of Style 
was appointed; on the 15th the amended form of constitution was agreed to, 
and on the 17th signed by all but three of the delegates present. The con- 
stitution was transmitted to Congress \\nth an explanatory letter, and a reso- 
lution indicating the way in which the proposed government should be put 
into operation. On the 28th of September Congress transmitted the con- 
stitution, with the letter and resolution, to the State legislatures for submis- 
sion to a convention of delegates in each State. The States ratified the con- 
stitution as follows: Delaware, Dec. 7; Pennsylvania, Dec. 12; New Jersey, 
Dec. 18, 1787; Georgia, Jan. 2; Connecticut, Jan. 9; Massachusetts, Feb. 7; 
Maryland, .\pril 28; South Carolina, May 23; New Hampshire, June 21; 
Virginia, June 25; New York, July 26, 1788; North Carolina, Nov. 21, 
1789; Rhode Island, May 29, 1790. 

Refeeexces. — Official text in Re^'ised Statutes (ed. 1S7S). There are 
many reprints. The text in the Revised Statutes is accompanied by refer- 
ences to judicial decisions and an elaborate analytical index. The Journal 
of the convention was printed at Boston, 1S19; it is also in Elliot's Debates 
(ed. 1836), I., 176-348. Madison's notes of the debates are in the Madison 
Papers, II., III., and in Elliot; for Yates's minutes, Elliot, I., 439-515. 
The various plans submitted are mentioned in Madison's notes and in the 
Journal. The resolution of Sept. 17, the accompanymg letter to Congress, 
and the resolution of Congress, Sept. 28, are in Elliot, I., 52, 53; texts of the 
ratifications of the States, ib., I., 349-375- There is a brief history of the 
amendments to the constitution in Lalor's Cyclopcrdia, I., 607-610. The 
classical exposition of the constitution is the Federalist, of which there are 
numerous editions: Dawson's " university edition " has an elaborate analysis. 
On the sources of the constitution, Johnston, in .Vn:' Princeton Rez\, IV., 
175-190; Robinson, in .-innals of the Amer. Acad, of Polit. and Soc. Science, 
I., 203-243 ; Stevens, Sources of the Constitution of the United States. 

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more 
perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic TranquiUty, 
provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, 
and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Pos- 
terity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United 
States of America. 



Article I. 

Section, i. All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested 
in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate 
and House of Representatives. 



2l8 CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES [Sept. i; 

Section. 2} The House of Representatives shall be composed 
of Members chosen every second Year by the People of the several 
States, and the Electors in each State shall have the Qualifications 
requisite for Electors of the most numerous Branch of the State 
Legislature. 

No Person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained 
to the Age of twenty-five Years, and been seven Years a Citizen of 
the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhab- 
itant of that State in which he shall be chosen. 

Representativ^es and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among 
the several States which may be included within this Union, accord- 
ing to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by 
adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those 
bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not 
taxed, three fifths of all other Persons. The actual Enumeration 
shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the 
Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent Term 
of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct. The 
Number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty 
Thousand, but each State shall have at Least one Representative ; 
and until such enumeration shall be made, the State of New 
Hampshire shall be entitled to chuse three, Massachusetts eight, 
Rhode-Island and Providence Plantations one, Connecticut five. 
New- York six. New Jersey four, Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one, 
Maryland six, Virginia ten. North Carolina five. South Carolina 
five, and Georgia three. 

When vacancies happen in the Representation from any State, 
the Executive Authority thereof shall issue Writs of Election to fill 
such Vacancies. 

The House of Representatives shall chuse their Speaker and 
other Officers ; and shall have the sole Power of Impeachment. 

Section. 3. The Senate of the United States shall be composed 
of two Senators from each State, chosen by the Legislature thereof, 
for six Years ; and each Senator shall have one Vote. 

Immediately after they shall be assembled in Consequence of 
the first Election, they shall be divided as equally as may be into 
three Classes. The Seats of the Senators of the first Class shall 

r 

' The numbers prefixed to the paragraphs in the Revised Statutes are 
omitted. — Ed. 



1787] CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 219 

be vacated at the Expiration of the second year, of the second 
Class at the Expiration of the fourth Year, and of the third Class 
at the Expiration of the sixth Year, so that one third may be 
chosen every second Year; and if Vacancies happen by Resigna- 
tion, or otherwise, during the Recess of the Legislature of any 
State, the Executive thereof may make temporary Appointments 
until the next Meeting of the Legislature, which shall then fill 
such Vacancies. 

No Person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to 
the Age of thirty Years, and been nine Years a Citizen of the 
United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant 
of that State for which he shall be chosen. 

The Vice President of the United States shall be President of 
the Senate, but shall have no Vote, unless they be equally 
divided. 

The Senate shall chuse their other Officers, and also a President 
pro tempore, in the Absence of the Vice President, or when he 
shall exercise the Office of President of the United States. 

The Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Impeachments. 
When sitting for that Purpose, they shall be on Oath or Affirma- 
tion. When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief 
Justice shall preside: And no Person shall be convicted without 
the Concurrence of two thirds of the Members present. 

Judgment in Cases of Impeachment shall not extend further 
than to removal from Office, and disqualification to hold and 
enjoy any Office of honor. Trust or Profit under the United 
States: but the Party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and 
subject to Indictment, Trial, Judgment and Punishment, according 
to Law. 

Section. 4. The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elec- 
tions for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each 
State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any 
time by Law make or alter such Regulations, except as to the 
Places of chusing Senators. 

The Congress shall assemble at least once in every Year, and 
such Meeting shall be on the first Monday in December, unless 
they shall by Law appoint a different Day. 

Section. 5. Each House shall be the Judge of the Elections, 
Returns and Qualifications of its own Members, and a Majority 



220 CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES [Sept. 17 

of each shall constitute a Quorum to do Business; but a smaller 
Number may adjourn from day to day, and may be authorized to 
compel the Attendance of absent Members, in such Manner, and 
under such Penalties as each House may provide. 

Each House may determine the Rules of its Proceedings, pun- 
ish its Members for disorderly Behavior, and, with the Concur- 
rence of two thirds, expel a Member. 

Each House shall keep a Journal of its Proceedings, and from 
time to time publish the same, excepting such Parts as may in 
their Judgment require Secrecy; and the Yeas and Nays of the 
Members of either House on any question shall, at the Desire of 
one fifth of those present, be entered on the Journal. 

Neither House, during the Session of Congress, shall, without 
the Consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor 
to any other Place than that in which the two Houses shall be 
sitting. 

Section. 6. The Senators and Representatives shall receive a 
Compensation for their Services, to be ascertained by Law, and 
paid out of the Treasury of the United States. They shall in all 
Cases, except Treason, Felony and Breach of the Peace, be privi- 
leged from Arrest during their Attendance at the Session of their 
respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same; 
and for any Speech or Debate in either House, they shall not be 
questioned in any other Place. 

No Senator or Representative shall, during the Time for which 
he was elected, be appointed to any civil Office under the Author- 
ity of the United States, which shall have been created, or the 
Emoluments whereof shall have been encreased during such time ; 
and no Person holding any Office under the United States, shall 
be a Member of either House during his Continuance in Office. 

Section; 7. All Bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the 
House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur 
with Amendments as on other Bills. 

Every Bill which shall have passed the House of Representa- 
tives and the Senate, shall, before it become a Law, be presented 
to the President of the United States ; If he approve he shall sign 
it, but if not he shall return it, with his Objections to that House 
in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the Objections 
at large on their Journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If after 



1787] CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 221 

such Reconsideration two thirds of that House shall agree to pass 
the Bill, it shall be sent, together with the Objections, to the other 
House, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved 
by two thirds of that House, it shall become a Law. But in all 
such Cases the Votes of both Houses shall be determined by Yeas 
and Nays, and the Names of the Persons voting for and against 
the Bill shall be entered on the Journal of each House respec- 
tively. If any Bill shall not be returned by the President within 
ten Days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented 
to him, the Same shall be a law, in like Manner as if he had signed 
it, unless the Congress by their Adjournment prevent its Return, 
in which Case it shall not be a Law. 

Every Order, Resolution, or Vote to which the Concurrence 
of the Senate and House of Representatives may be necessary 
(except on a question of Adjournment) shall be presented to the 
President of the United States; and before the Same shall take 
Effect,, shall be approved by him, or being disapproved by him, 
shall be repassed by two thirds of the Senate and House of Rep- 
resentatives, according to the Rules and Limitations prescribed in 
the Case of a Bill. 

Section. 8. The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect 
Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and pro- 
vide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United 
States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform 
throughout the United States; 

To borrow Money on the Credit of the United States; 

To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the 
several States, and with the Indian Tribes; 

To establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization, and uniform 
Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United 
States ; 

To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, 
and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures ; 

To provide for the Punishment of counterfeiting the Securities 
and current Coin of the United States; 

To establish Post Offices and post Roads; 

To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by secur- 
ing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right 
to their respective Writings and Discoveries; 



222 CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES [Sept. 17 

To constitute Tribunals inferior to the supreme Court; 

To define and Punish Piracies and Felonies committed on the 
high Seas, and Offences against the Law of Nations; 

To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and 
make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water; 

To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money 
to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years; 

To provide and maintain a Navy; 

To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land 
and naval Forces; 

To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of 
the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions; 

To provide for organizing, arming, and disciphning, the Militia, 
and for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the 
Service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively, 
the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of training the 
Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress; 

To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over 
such District (not exceeding ten Miles square) as may, by Cession 
of particular States, and the Acceptance of Congress, become the 
Seat of the Government of the United States, and to exercise like 
Authority over all Places purchased by the Consent of the Legis- 
lature of the State in which the Same shall be, for the Erection 
of Forts, Magazines, Arsenals, dock-Yards, and other needful 
Buildings; — And 

To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for 
carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other 
Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the 
United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof. 

Section. 9. The Migration or Importation of such Persons as 
any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall 
not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the Year one thousand 
eight hundred and eight, but a Tax or Duty may be imposed on 
such Importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each Person. 

The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be sus- 
pended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public 
Safety may require it. 

No Bill of Attainder or expost facto Law shall be passed. 

No Capitation, or other direct, tax shall be laid, unless in 



1787] CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 223 

Proportion to the Census or Enumeration herein before directed 
to be taken. 

No Tax or Duty shall be laid on Articles exported from any 
State. 

No Preference shall be given by any Regulation of Commerce 
or Revenue to the Ports of one State over those of another: nor 
shall Vessels bound to, or from, one State, be obliged to enter, 
clear, or pay Duties in another. 

No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Conse- 
quence of Appropriations made by Law ; and a regular Statement 
and Account of the Receipts and Expenditures of all public 
Money shall be published from time to time. 

No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: 
And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, 
shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present. 
Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, 
Prince, or foreign State. 

Section. 10. No State shall enter into any Treaty, Alliance, 
or Confederation; grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal; coin 
Money; emit Bills of Credit; make any Thing but gold and silver 
Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts; pass any Bill of Attainder, 
ex post facto Law, or Law impairing the Obligation of Contracts, 
or grant any Tide of Nobility. 

No State shall, without the Consent of the Congress, lay any 
Imposts or Duties on Imports or Exports, except what may be 
absolutely necessary for executing it's inspection Laws: and the 
net Produce of all Duties and Imposts, laid by any State on 
Imports or Exports, shall be for the Use of the Treasury of the 
United States; and all such Laws shall be subject to the Revision 
and Controul of the Congress. 

No State shall, without the Consent of Congress, lay any Duty 
of Tonnage, keep Troops, or Ships of War in time of Peace, enter 
into any Agreement or Compact with another State, or with a 
foreign Power, or engage in War, unless actually invaded, or in 
such imminent Danger as will not admit of Delay. 

Article II. 
Section, i. The executive Power shall be vested in a President 



224 CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES [Sept. 17 

of the United States of America. He shall hold his Office during 
the Term of four Years, and, together with the Vice President, 
chosen for the same Term, be elected, as follows 

Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature 
thereof may^ direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole 
Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may 
be entitled in the Congress : but no Senator or Representative, or 
Person holding an Office of Trust or Profit under the United 
States, shall be appointed an Elector. 

The electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by 
ballot for two Persons, of whom one at least shall not be an 
Inhabitant of the same State with themselves. And they shall 
make a List of all the Persons voted for, and of the Number of 
Votes for each ; which List they shall sign and certify, and trans- 
mit sealed to the Seat of the Government of the United States, 
directed to the President of the Senate. The President of the 
Senate shall, in the Presence of the Senate and House of Repre- 
sentatives, open all the Certificates, and the Votes shall then be 
counted. The Person having the greatest Number of Votes shall 
be the President, if such Number be a Majority of the whole 
Number of Electors appointed; and if there be more than one 
who have such Majority and have an equal Number of Votes, then 
the House of Representatives shall immediately chuse by Ballot 
one of them for President; and if no person have a Majority, 
then from the five highest on the List the said House shall in like 
Manner chuse the President. But in chusing the President, the 
Votes shall be taken by States, the Representation from each State 
having one Vote; A quorum for this Purpose shall consist of a 
Member or Members from two-thirds of the States, and a Majority 
of all the States shall be necessary to a Choice. In every Case, 
after the Choice of the President, the person having the greatest 
Number of Votes of the Electors shall be the Vice President. 
But if there should remain two or more who have equal Votes, 
the Senate shall chuse from them by Ballot the Vice-President.* 

The Congress may determine the Time of chusing the Electors, 
and the Day on which they shall give their Votes; which Day 
shall be the same throughout the United States. 

* This paragraph was superseded by the 12th Article of the Amendments. 
— Ed. 



1787] CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 225 

No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the 
United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, 
shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Per- 
son be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the 
Age of thirty five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident 
within the United States. 

In Case of the Removal of the President from Office, or of his 
Death, Resignation, or Inability to discharge the Powers and 
Duties of the said Office, the same shall devolve on the Vice 
President, and the Congress may by Law provide for the Case 
of Removal, Death, Resignation, or Inability, both of the Presi- 
dent and Vice President, declaring what Officer shall then act as 
President, and such Officer shall act accordingly, until the Dis- 
ability be removed, or a President shall be elected. 

The President shall, at stated Times, receive for his Services, a 
Compensation, which shall neither be encreased nor diminished 
during the Period for which he shall have been elected, and he 
shall not receive within that Period any other Emolument from 
the United States, or any of them. 

Before he enter on the Execution of his Office, he shall take 
the following Oath or Affirmation: — "I do solemnly swear (or 
"affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of 
"the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, 
"protect and defend the Constitution of the United States." 

Section. 2. The President shall be Commander in Chief of 
the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the 
several States, when called into the actual Service of the United 
States; he may require the Opinion, in writing, of the principal 
Officer in each of the executive Departments, upon any Subject 
relating to the Duties of their respective Offices, and he shall have 
Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the 
United States, except in Cases of Impeachment. 

He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of 
the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators 
present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the 
Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, 
other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court, 
and all other Officers of the United States, whose Appointments 
are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be estab- 
Q 



226 CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES [Sept. 17 

lished by Law: but the Congress may by Law vest the Appoint- 
ment of such inferior Ofticers, as they think pr()i)er, in the President 
alone, in the Courts of Law, or in the Heads of Departments. 

The President shall have Power to till up all V'acancies that may 
happen during the Recess of the Senate, by granting Commissions 
which shall expire at the End of their next Session. 

Section. 3. He shall from time to time give to the Congress 
Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their 
Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and 
expedient; he may, on extraordinary Occasions, convene both 
Houses, or either of them, and in Case of Disagreement between 
them, with Respect to the Time of Adjournment, he may adjourn 
them to such Time as he shall think proper; he shall receive 
Ambassadors and other public Ministers; he shall take Care that 
the Laws be faithfully executed, and shall Commission all the 
Officers of the United States. 

Section. 4. The President, Vice President and all civil Officers 
of the United States, shall I)e removed from Office on Impeach- 
ment for, and Conviction of. Treason, ^Bribery, or other high 
Crimes and Misdemeanors. 

Article III. 

Section, i. The judicial Power of the United States, shall be 
vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the 
Congress may from time to time ordain antl establish. The 
Judges, both of the supreme and inferior Courts, shall hold their 
Offices during good Behavior, and shall, at stated Times, receive 
for their Services, a Compensation, which shall not be diminished 
during their Continuance in Office. 

Section. 2. The judicial Power shall extend to all Cases, in 
Law and Equity, arising under this Constitution, the Laws of the 
United States, and Treaties made, or which shall be made, under 
their Authority; — to all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public 
Ministers and Consuls; — to all Cases of admiralty and maritime 
Jurisdiction; — to Controversies to which the United States shall 
be a Party; — to Controversies between two or more States; — 
between a State and Citizens of another State; — between Citizens 
of different States, — between Citizens of the same State claiming 



1787] . CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 227 

Lands under Grants of dififerent States, and between a State, or 
the Citizens thereof, and foreign States, Citizens or Subjects. 

In all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other pubHc Ministers and 
Consuls, and those in which a State shall be Party, the supreme 
Court shall have original Jurisdiction. In all the other Cases 
heiore mentioned, the supreme Court shall have appellate Juris- 
diction, both as to Law and Fact, with such Exceptions, and 
under such Regulations as the Congress shall make. 

The Trial of all Crimes, except in Cases of Impeachment, shall 
be by Jury; and such Trial shall be held in the State where the 
said Crimes shall have been committed; but when not committed 
within any State, the Trial shall be at such Place or Places as the 
Congress may by Law have directed. 

Section. 3. Treason against the United States, shall consist 
only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Ene- 
mies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be con- 
victed of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to 
the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court. 

The Congress shall have Power to declare the Punishment 
of Treason, but no Attainder of Treason shall work Corruption 
of Blood, or Forfeiture except during the Life of the Person 
attainted. 

Article IV. 

Section, i. Full Faith and Credit shall be given in each State 
to the public Acts, Records, and judicial Proceedings of every 
other State. And the Congress may by general Laws prescribe 
the Manner in which such Acts, Records and Proceedings shall 
be proved, and the Effect thereof. 

Section. 2. The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all 
Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States. 

A person charged in any State with Treason, Felony, or other 
Crime, who shall flee from Justice, and be found in another State, 
shall on Demand of the executive Authority of the State from 
which he fled, be delivered up to be removed to the State having 
Jurisdiction of the Crime. 

No Person held to Service or Labour in one State, under the 
Laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in Consequence of any 
Law or Regulation therein, be discharged from such Service or 



228 CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES [Sept. 17 

Labour, but shall be delivered up on Claim of the Party to whom 
such Service or Labour may be due. 

Section. 3. New States may be admitted by the Congress into 
this Union; but no new State shall be formed or erected within 
the Jurisdiction of any other State; nor any State be formed by 
the Junction of two or more States, or Parts of States, without the 
Consent of the Legislatures of the States concerned as well as of 
the Congress. 

The Congress shall have Power to dispose of and make all 
needful Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory or other 
Property belonging to the United States; and nothing in this 
Constitution shall be so construed as to Prejudice any Claims of 
the United States, or of any particular State. 

Section. 4. The United States shall guarantee to every State 
in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall pro- 
tect each of them against Invasion; and on Application of the 
Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be 
convened) against domestic Violence. 

Article V. 

The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall deem 
it necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Constitution, or, 
on the Application of the Legislatures of two thirds of the several 
States, shall call a Convention for proposing Amendments, which, 
in either Case, shall be valid to all Intents and Purposes, as Part 
of this Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of three 
fourths of the several States, or by Conventions in three fourths 
thereof, as the one or the other Mode of Ratification may be pro- 
posed by the Congress ; Provided that no Amendment which may 
be made prior to the Year One thousand eight hundred and eight 
shall in any Manner affect the first and fourth Clauses in the Ninth 
Section of the first Article; and that no State, without its Consent, 
shall be deprived of its equal Suffrage in the Senate. 

Article VI. 

All Debts contracted and Engagements entered into, before the 
Adoption of this Constitution, shall be as valid against the United 
States under this Constitution, as under the Confederation. 



1787] CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 22g 

This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which 
shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or 
which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, 
shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every 
State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or 
Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding. 

The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the 
Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and 
judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several 
States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this 
Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a 
Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United 
States. 

Article VII. 

The Ratification of the Conventions of nine States, shall be 
sufficient for the Establishment of this Constitution between the 
States so ratifying the Same. 

Done in Convention by the Unanimous Consent of the States 
present the Seventeenth Day of September in the Year of 
our Lord one thousand seven hundred and Eighty seven and 
of the Independence of the United States of America the 
Twelfth In Witness whereof We have hereunto subscribed 
our Names, 

G? WASHINGTON — 

Presidt, and Deputy from Virginia ^ 

ARTICLES IN ADDITION TO, AND AMENDMENT 
OF, THE CONSTITUTION.^ 

Article I. 

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of 
religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the 
freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people 
peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a 
redress of grievances. 

' The remaining signatures are omitted. — ^Ed. 

^ For the Thirteenth, Fourteenth and Fifteenth .\mendments, see post, Nos. 144, 
161, and 167, 



230 CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES [Sept. 17 



Article II. 

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a 
free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall 
not be infringed. 

Article III. 

No soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, 
without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a 
manner to be prescribed by law. 

Article IV. 

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, 
papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, 
shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon prob- 
able cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly 
describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things 
to be seized. 

Article V. 

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise 
infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand 
Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the 
Militia, when in actual service in time of War or in public danger; 
nor shall any person be subject for the same ofifence to be twice 
put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any 
Criminal Case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of 
life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall 
private property be taken for public use, without just compensation. 

Article VI. 

In all criminal prosecutions the accused shall enjoy the right 
to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and 
district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which dis- 
trict shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be 
informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be con- 



17S7] CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 23 1 

fronted with the witnesses against him ; to have compulsory process 
for obtaining Witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance 
of Counsel for his defence. 

Article VII. 

In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall 
exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, 
and no fact tried by a jury shall be otherwise re-examined in any 
Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the 
common law. 

Article VIII. 

Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, 
nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. 

Article IX. 

The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not 
be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people. 

Article X. 

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitu- 
tion, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States 
respectively, or to the people.^ 

Article XI. 

The Judicial power of the United States shall not be construed 
to extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or prosecuted 
against one of the United States by Citizens of another state, or 
by Citizens or Subjects of any Foreign State.* 

Article XII. 

The Electors shall meet in their respective states, and vote by 
ballot for President and Vice-President, one of whom, at least, 
shall not be an inhabitant of the same state with themselves; they 

' The first ten amendments went into effect Nov. 3, 1791. — Ed. 
- In effect Jan. 8, 1798. — Ed. 



232 CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES [Sept. 17 

shall name in their ballots the person voted for as President, and 
in distinct ballots the person voted for as Vice-President, and they 
shall make distinct lists of all persons voted for as President, and 
of all persons voted for as Vice-President, and of the number of 
votes for each, which lists they shall sign and certify, and transmit 
sealed to the seat of the government of the United States, directed 
to the President of the Senate ; — The President of the Senate 
shall, in presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, 
open all the certificates and the votes shall then be counted ; — 
The person having the greatest number of votes for President, 
shall be the President, if such number be a majority of the whole 
number of Electors appointed; and if no person have such ma- 
jority, then from the persons having the highest numbers not 
exceeding three on the list of those voted for as President, the 
House of Representatives shall choose immediately, by ballot, the 
President. But in choosing the President, the votes shall be taken 
by states, the representation from each state having one vote; a 
quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members 
from two-thirds of the states, and a majority of all the states shall 
be necessary to a choice. And if the House of Representatives 
shall not choose a President whenever the right of choice shall 
devolve upon them, before the fourth day of March next following, 
then the Vice-President shall act as President, as in the case of 
the death or other constitutional disability of the President. The 
person having the greatest number of votes as Vice-President, 
shall be the Vice-President, if such number be a majority of the 
whole number of Electors appointed, and if no person have a 
majority, then from the two highest numbers on the list, the Senate 
shall choose the Vice-President; a quorum for the purpose shall 
consist of two-thirds of the whole number of Senators, and a 
majority of the whole number shall be necessary to a choice. But 
no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall 
be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States.* 

* In effect Sept. 25, 1804. — Ed. 



1790] FIRST REPORT ON PUBLIC CREDIT 233 

No. 55. Hamilton's First Report on Pub- 
lic Credit 

January 9, 1790- 

August 28, 1789, a memorial of certain public creditors of Pennsylvania 
was presented in the House, "praying the aid and interposition of Congress 
on behalf of the public creditors, by a permanent appropriation of adequate 
funds for the punctual payment of the interest of the public debt, or by the 
adoption of such other means as, in the wisdom of Congress, shall be best 
calculated to promote the public welfare, and render justice to the individuals 
who are interested." The memorial was referred to a committee, of which 
Madison was chairman, which reported on the loth in favor of deferring 
action until the next session. On the 21st, after consideration of the report, 
it was resolved "that this House consider an adequate provision for the sup- 
port of the public credit, as a matter of high importance to the national honor 
and prosperity," and "that the Secretary of the Treasury be directed to pre- 
pare a plan for that purpose, and to report the same to this House at its next 
meeting." January 14, 1790, the report on public credit, extracts from which 
follow, was sent in. The report was taken up Feb. 8, and considered in 
Committee of the Whole House until March 29, when eight resolutions, agreed 
to in committee, were reported. The first three resolutions, recommending 
payment of the foreign debt, together with principal and interest of the domes- 
tic debt, were agreed to; the fourth, in favor of the assumption of the State 
debts, was, by a vote of 29 to 27, recommitted; and the remaining resolutions 
were laid on the table. On the 30th, the last four resolutions were also re- 
committed. Consideration of the report in Committee of the Whole House 
was resumed, and April 26, by a vote of 32 to 18, the committee was dis- 
charged "for the present" from further consideration of so much of the re- 
port as related to assumption. The opposition to assumption which had 
by this time developed, strengthened by the arrival of members from North 
Carolina, bid fair to defeat the scheme. In the meantime, the plan for the 
location of the national capital had met with difficulty, owing to the rival in- 
terests of Pennsylvania and Virginia. Hamilton made use of Jefferson's 
influence to arrange a compromise, by which, in return for votes in favor 
of assumption, the capital was to be located at Philadelphia for ten years, 
and thereafter permanently on the Potomac. Acts of Aug. 4, 10, and 12, 
1790, provided for the settlement of the public debt and for increased 
duties on imports, substantially as suggested by Hamilton. 

References. — Text in Amer. State Papers, Finance, I., 15-25. For the 
proceedings of the House, see the Journal, ist Cong., ist and 2d Sess. ; for 
the discussions, see the Annals of Congress, or Benton's Abridgment, I. The 
memorial presented Aug. 28 is in the Annals; for resolutions and memorials 
against the act of Aug. 4, 1790, see Amer. State Papers, Finance, I., 76-81, 
90, 91. A contemporary view of the funding system is in Carey's Amer. 



234 FIRST REPORT ON PUBLIC CREDIT [Jan. g 

Museum, VI., 91-98. On Hamilton's financial policy in general, see Lodge's 
Hamilton, chaps. 5, 6. See also Hamilton's Works (ed. 185 1), V., 454-459 ; 
Jefferson's Works (ed. 1854), IX., 91-96; Madison's Writings (ed. 1865), 
I., 490-496, 501, 507-522. 

Treasury Dep.a.rtment, 

January 9, 1790. 

The Secretary of the Treasury, in obedience to the resolution 
of the House of Representatives of the twenty-first day of Septem- 
ber last, has, during the recess of Congress, apphed himself to 
the consideration of a proper plan for the support of the public 
credit, with all the attention which was due to the authority of 
the House, and to the magnitude of the object. . . . 

In the opinion of the Secretary, the wisdom of the House, in 
giving their explicit sanction to the proposition which has been 
stated, cannot but be applauded by all who will seriously consider 
and trace, through their obvious consequences, these plain and 
undeniable truths: 

That exigencies are to be expected to occur, in the affairs of 
nations, in which there will be a necessity for borrowing; 

That loans in times of public danger, especially from foreign 
war, are found an indispensable resource, even to the wealthiest 
of them; 

And that, in a country which, like this, is possessed of little 
active wealth, or, in other words, little moneyed capital, the neces- 
sity for that resource must, in such emergencies, be proportionably 
urgent. 

And as, on the one hand, the necessity for borrowing, in par- 
ticular emergencies, cannot be doubted; so, on the other, it is 
equally evident, that, to be able to borrow upon good terms, 
it is essential that the credit of a nation should be well estab- 
lished. . . . 

If the maintenance of public credit, then, be truly so important, 
the next inquiry which suggests itself is, By what means it is to be 
effected ? The ready answer to which question is, by good faith : 
by a punctual performance of contracts. States, like individuals, 
who observe their engagements, are respected and trusted, while 
the reverse is the fate of those who pursue an opposite con- 
duct. . . . 

While the observance of that good faith, which is the basis of 



i79o] FIRST REPORT ON PUBLIC CREDIT 235 

public credit, is recommended by the strongest inducements of 
political expediency, it is enforced by considerations of still greater 
authority. There are arguments for it which rest on the immutable 
principles of moral obligation. . . . 

This reflection derives additional strength from the nature of 
the debt of the United States. It was the price of liberty. The 
faith of America has been repeatedly pledged for it, and with 
solemnities that give peculiar force to the obligation. There is, 
indeed, reason to regret that it has not hitherto been kept; that 
the necessities of the war, conspiring with inexperience, in the 
subjects of finance, produced direct infractions; and that the sub- 
sequent period has been a continued scene of negative violation, 
or non-compliance. But a diminution of this regret arises from 
the reflection, that the last seven years have exhibited an earnest 
and uniform effort, on the part of the Government of the Union, 
to retrieve the national credit, by doing justice to the creditors 
of the nation ; and that the embarrassments of a defective consti- 
tution, which defeated this laudable effort, have ceased. 

From this evidence of a favorable disposition given by the 
former Government, the institution of a new one, clothed with 
powers competent to calling forth the resources of the community, 
has excited correspondent expectations. A general belief accord- 
ingly prevails, that the credit of the United States will quickly be 
established on the firm foundation of an effectual provision for the 
existing debt. The influence which this has had at home, is 
witnessed by the rapid increase that has taken place in the market 
value of the public securities. From January to November, they 
rose thirty-three and a third per cent.; and from that period to 
this time, they have risen fifty per cent, more; and the intelli- 
gence from abroad announces effects proportionably favorable to 
our national credit and consequence. . . . 

The advantage to the public creditors, from the increased value 
of that part of their property which constitutes the public debt, 
needs no explanation. 

But there is a consequence of this, less obvious, though not less 
true, in which every other citizen is interested. It is a well known 
fact, that, in countries in which the national debt is properly 
funded, and an object of established confidence, it answers most 
of the purposes of money. Transfers of stock or public debt, are 



236 FIRST REPORT ON PUBLIC CREDIT [Jan. 9 

there equivalent to payments in specie ; or, in other words, stoclc, 
in the principal transactions of business, passes current as specie. 
The same thing would, in all probability, happen here under the 
like circumstances. . . . 

It ought not, however, to be expected, that the advantages 
described as likely to result from funding the public debt, would 
be instantaneous. It might require some time to bring the value 
of stock to its natural level, and to attach to it that fixed con- 
fidence, which is necessary to its quality as money. Yet the late 
rapid rise of the public securities encourages an expectation that 
the progress of stock, to the desirable point, will be much more 
expeditious than could have been foreseen. And as, in the mean 
time, it will be increasing in value, there is room to conclude that 
it will, from the outset, answer many of the purposes in contempla- 
tion. Particularly, it seems to be probable, that from creditors, 
who are not themselves necessitous, it will early meet with a ready 
reception in payment of debts, at its current price. 

Having now taken a concise view of the inducements to a 
proper provision for the public debt, the next inquiry which pre- 
sents itself is. What ought to be the nature of such a provision ? 
This requires some preliminary discussions. 

It is agreed on all hands, that that part of the debt which has 
been contracted abroad, and is denominated the foreign debt, 
ought to be provided for according to the precise terms of the 
contracts relating to it. The discussions which can arise, there- 
fore, will have reference essentially to the domestic part of it, or 
to that which has been contracted at home. It is to be regretted 
that there is not the same unanimity of sentiment on this part as 
on the other. 

The Secretary has too much deference for the opinions of every 
part of the community, not to have observed one, which has more 
than once made its appearance in the public prints, and which is 
occasionally to be met with in conversation. It involves this 
question : Whether a discrimination ought not to be made between 
original holders of the public securities, and present possessors, 
by purchase? Those who advocate a discrimination, are for 
making a full provision for the securities of the former at their 
nominal value; but contend that the latter ought to receive no 
more than the cost to them, and the interest. And the idea is 



I790] FIRST REPORT ON PUBLIC CREDIT 237 

sometimes suggested, of making good the difiference to the primi- 
tive possessor. 

In favor of this scheme, it is alleged, that it would be unreason- 
able to pay twenty shillings in the pound, to one who had not 
given more for it than three or four. And it is added, that it 
would be hard to aggravate the misfortune of the first owner, who, 
probably, through necessity, parted with his property at so great a 
loss, by obliging him to contribute to the profit of the person who 
had speculated on his distresses. 

The Secretary, after the most mature reflection on the force of 
this argument, is induced to reject the doctrine it contains, as 
equally unjust and impolitic; as highly injurious, even to the 
original holders of public securities; as ruinous to public 
credit. 

It is inconsistent with justice, because, in the first place, it 
is a breach of contract — a violation of the rights of a fair 
purchaser. 

The nature of the contract, in its origin, is, that the public will 
pay the sum expressed in the security, to the first holder or his 
assignee. The intent in making the security assignable, is, that 
the proprietor may be able to make use of his property, by selling 
it for as much as it may be worth in the market, and that 
the buyer may be safe in the purchase. 

Every buyer, therefore, stands exactly in the place of the seller; 
has the same right with him to the identical sum expressed in 
the security; and, having acquired that right, by fair purchase, 
and in conformity to the original agreement and intention of the 
Government, his claim cannot be disputed, without manifest in- 
justice. . . . 

The impolicy of a discrimination results from two considera- 
tions: One, that it proceeds upon a principle destructive of that 
quality of the public debt, or the stock of the nation, which is 
essential to its capacity for answering the purposes of money, 
that is, the security of transfer; the other, that, as well on this 
account as because it includes a breach of faith, it renders prop- 
erty, in the funds, less valuable, consequently, induces lenders to 
demand a higher premium for what they lend, and produces every 
other inconvenience of a bad state of public credit. 

It will be perceived, at first sight, that the transferable quality 



238 FIRST REPORT ON PUBLIC CREDIT [Jan. 9 

of stock is essential to its operation as money, and that this 
depends on the idea of complete security to the transferee, and a 
firm persuasion, that no distinction can, in any circumstances, be 
made between him and the original proprietor. 

The precedent of an invasion of this fundamental principle, 
would, of course, tend to deprive the community of an advantage 
with which no temporary saving could bear the least compari- 
son. 

And it will as readily be perceived that the same cause would 
operate a diminution of the value of stock in the hands of the first 
as well as of every other holder. The price which any man who 
should incline to purchase, would be willing to give for it, would 
be in a compound ratio to the immediate profit it afforded, and 
the chance of the continuance of his profit. If there was supposed 
to be any hazard of the latter, the risk would be taken into the 
calculation, and either there would be no purchase at all, or it 
would be at a proportionably less price. . . . 

But there is still a point in view, in which it will appear per- 
haps even more exceptionable than in either of the former. It 
would be repugnant to an express provision of the constitution of 
the United States. This provision is, that "all debts contracted, 
and engagements entered into, before the adoption of that con- 
stitution, shall be as valid against the United States under it, as 
under the Confederation;" which amounts to a constitutional 
ratification of the contracts respecting the debt, in the state in 
which they existed under the confederation. And, resorting to 
that standard, there can be no doubt that the rights of assignees 
and original holders must be considered as equal. . . . 

The Secretary, concluding that a discrimination between the 
different classes of creditors of the United States cannot, with 
propriety, be made, proceeds to examine whether a difference 
ought to be permitted to remain between them and another 
description of public creditors — those of the States, individually. 
The Secretary, after mature reflection on this point, entertains a 
full conviction, that an assumption of the debts of the particular 
States by the Union, and a like provision for them, as for those 
of the Union, will be a measure of sound policy and substantial 
justice. . . . 

There are several reasons, which render it probable that the 



1790] FIRST REPORT ON PUBLIC CREDIT 239 

situation of the State creditors would be worse than that of the 
creditors of the Union, if there be not a national assumption of 
the State debts. Of these it will be sufficient to mention two: 
one, that a principal branch of revenue is exclusively vested in the 
Union; the other, that a State must always be checked in the 
imposition of taxes on articles of consumption, from the want of 
power to extend the same regulation to the other States, and from 
the tendency of partial duties to injure its industry and commerce. 
Should the State creditors stand upon a less eligible footing than 
the others, it is unnatural to expect they would see with pleasure 
a provision for them. The influence which their dissatisfaction 
might have, could not but operate injuriously, both for the cred- 
itors and the credit of the United States. Hence it is even the 
interest of the creditors of the Union, that those of the individual 
States should be comprehended in a general provision. Any 
attempt to secure to the former either exclusive or peculiar advan- 
tages, would materially hazard their interests. Neither would it 
be just, that one class of public creditors should be more favored 
than the other. The objects for which both descriptions of 
the debt were contracted, are in the main the same. Indeed, a 
great part of the particular debts of the States has arisen from 
assumptions by them on account of the Union. And it is most 
equitable, that there should be the same measure of retribution for 
all. . . . 

There is good reason to conclude, that the impressions of many 
are more favorable to the claim of the principal, than to that of 
the interest; at least so far as to produce an opinion, that an 
inferior provision might suffice for the latter. 

But, to the Secretary, this opinion does not appear to be well 
founded. His investigations of the subject have led him to a con- 
clusion, that the arrears of interest have pretensions at least equal 
to the principal. . . . 

The result of the foregoing discussions is this : That there ought 
to be no discrimination between the original holders of the debt, 
and present possessors by purchase. That it is expedient there 
should be an assumption of the State debts by the Union, and 
that the arrears of interest should be provided for on an equal 
footing with the principal. 

The next inquiry, in order, towards determining the nature of 



240 FIRST REPORT ON PUBLIC CREDIT [Jan. g 

a proper provision, respects the quantum of the debt, and the 
present rates of interest. 

The debt of the Union is distinguishable into foreign and 
domestic. 
The foreign debt, as stated in schedule B, 

amounts to, principal, .... $10,070,307 00 

Bearing an interest of four, and partly an 

interest of five per cent. 
Arrears of interest to the last of December, 

1789 1,640,071 62 

Making, together . . . $11,710,378 62 

The domestic debt may be subdivided into 
liquidated and unliquidated; principal and 
interest. 
The principal of the liquidated part, as stated 

in the schedule C, amounts to . . . $27,383,917 74 
Bearing an interest of six per cent. 
The arrears of interest, as stated in the sched- 
ule D, to the end of 1790, amount to . . 13,030,16820 

Making, together . . . $40,414,085 94 

The unliquidated part of the domestic debt, which consists 
chiefly of the continental bills of credit, is not ascertained, but 
may be estimated at 2,000,000 dollars. 

These several sums constitute the whole of the debt of the 
United States, amounting together to $54,124,464 56. That of 
the individual States is not equally well ascertained. . . . The 
Secretary, however, presumes that the total amount may be safely 
stated at twenty-five millions of dollars, principal and interest. . . . 

On the supposition that the arrears of interest ought to be pro- 
vided for on the same terms with the principal, the annual amount 
of the interest, which, at the existing rates, would be payable on 
the entire mass of the public debt, would be — 



1790] FIRST REPORT ON PUBLIC CREDIT 24I 

On the foreign debt, computing the interest on the 

principal, as it stands, and allowing four per 

cent, on the arrears of interest, . . . $542,599 66 

On the domestic debt, including that of the States 4,044,845 15 

Making, together, . . . $4,587,444 81 

The interesting problem now occurs: Is it in the power of the 
United States, consistently with those prudential considerations 
which ought not to be overlooked, to make a provision equal to 
the purpose of funding the whole debt, at the rates of interest 
which it now bears, in addition to the sum which will be neces- 
sary for the current service of the Government? 

The Secretary will not say that such a provision would exceed 
the abilities of the country; but he is clearly of opinion that, to 
make it, would require the extension of taxation to a degree, and 
to objects, which the true interest of the public creditors forbids. 
It is therefore to be hoped, and even to be expected, that they 
will cheerfully concur in such modifications of their claims, on 
fair and equitable principles, as will facilitate to the Govern- 
ment an arrangement substantial, durable, and satisfactory to the 
community. . . . 

Probabilities are always a rational ground of contract. The 
Secretary conceives, that there is good reason to believe, if effectual 
measures are taken to establish public credit, that the Government 
rate of interest in the United States will, in a very short time, fall 
at least as low as five per cent. ; and that, in a period not exceed- 
ing twenty years, it will sink still lower, probably to four. There 
are two principal causes which will be likely to produce this 
effect; one, the low rate of interest in Europe; the other, the 
increase of the moneyed capital of the nation, by the funding of 
the public debt. . . . 

Premising these things, the Secretary submits to the House 
the expediency of proposing a loan, to the full amount of the 
debt, as well of the particular States as of the Union, upon the 
following terms : 

First. That, for every hundred dollars subscribed, payable in 
the debt, (as well interest as principal) the subscriber be entitled, 
at his option, either to have two-thirds funded at an annuity or 
yearly interest of six per cent., redeemable at the pleasure of the 



242 FIRST REPORT ON PUBLIC CREDIT [Jan. g 

Government, by payment of the principal, and to receive the 
other third in lands in the western territory, at the rate of twenty 
cents per acre ; or, to have the whole sum funded at an annuity 
or yearly interest of four per cent., irredeemable by any payment 
exceeding five dollars per annum, on account both of principal 
and interest, and to receive, as a compensation for the reduction 
of interest, fifteen dollars and eighty cents, payable in lands, as in 
the preceding case; or, to have sixty-six dollars and two-thirds of 
a dollar funded immediately, at an annuity or yearly interest of 
six per cent., irredeemable by any payment exceeding four dollars 
and two-thirds of a dollar per annum, on account both of principal 
and interest, and to have, at the end of ten years, twenty-six 
dollars and eighty-eight cents funded at the like interest and rate 
of redemption; or, to have an annuity, for the remainder of life, 
upon the contingency of fixing to a given age, not less distant 
than ten years, computing interest at four per cent.; or, to have 
an annuity, for the remainder of life, upon the contingency of the 
survivership of the youngest of two persons, computing interest in 
this case also at four per cent. 

In addition to the foregoing loan, payable wholly in the debt, 
the Secretary would propose that one should be opened for ten 
millions of dollars, on the following plan : 

That, for every hundred dollars subscribed, payable one half in 
specie, and the other half in debt, (as well principal as interest) 
the subscriber be entitled to an annuity or yearly interest of five 
per cent., irredeemable by any payment exceeding six dollars per 
annum, on account both of principal and interest. [The details 
of these various plans are then discussed at length.] 

In order to keep up a due circulation of money, it will be ex- 
pedient that the interest of the debt should be paid quarter- 
yearly. . . . 

The remaining part of the task to be performed is to take a 
view of the means of providing for the debt, according to the 
modification of it which is proposed. . . . 

... to pay the interest of the foreign debt, and to pay four per 
cent, on the whole of the domestic debt, principal and interest, 
forming a new capital, will require a yearly income of $2,239,163,09 
— the sum which, in the opinion of the Secretary, ought now to be 
provided, in addition to what the current service will require. . . . 



1790] PROCLAMATION OF NEUTRALITY 243 

With regard to the instalments of the foreign debt, these, in the 
opinion of the Secretary, ought to be paid by new loans abroad. 
Could funds be conveniently spared from other exigencies, for 
paying them, the United States qould illy bear the drain of cash, 
at the present juncture, which the measure would be likely to 
occasion. 

But to the sum which has been stated for payment of the in- 
terest, must be added a provision for the current service. This 
the Secretary estimates at six hundred thousand dollars, making, 
with the amount of the interest, two millions eight hundred and 
thirty-nine thousand one hundred and sixty-three dollars and nine 
cents. 

This sum may, in the opinion of the Secretary, be obtained 
from the present duties on imports and tonnage, with the addi- 
tions which, without any possible disadvantage, either to trade or 
agriculture, may be made on wines, spirits, (including those dis- 
tilled within the United States) teas and coffee. [A discussion of 
this point, with a detailed statement of the proposed duties, 
follows.] 



No. 56. Proclamation of Neutrality 

April 22, 1793 

The declaration of war made by France against Great Britain and Holland 
reached the United States early in April, 1793. Washington was at Mount 
Vernon. April 12 he addressed letters to the Secretaries of State and of the 
Treasury, "requesting their immediate attention to the question of privateer- 
ing"; on the 17th he reached Philadelphia. On the following day Washing- 
ton sent to the members of the cabinet a circular letter containing thirteen 
questions, framed by Hamilton, relative to the proper conduct of the United 
States in view of a European war. The members of the cabinet, with the 
Attorney-General, met on the 19th at Washington's house, and unanimously 
decided in favor of the issuance of a proclamation of neutrality. Randolph 
was directed to draw up the proclamation; on the 2 2d it was submitted to 
the President, approved, signed, and ordered to be published. The procla- 
mation was communicated to Congress Dec. 3. 

References. — Text in Amer. State Papers, Foreign Relations, I., 140. 
Washington's letter to the cabinet, and the accompanying questions, are 
given in Sparks, Writings of Washington, X., 337, 533, 534. Jefferson's 



244 J^ Y TREATY [November 19 

account of the cabinet meeting at which the proclamation was discussed is in 
his Works (ed. 1854), IX., 142, 143; for his own views on the subject, ib., 
IV., 17-20, 29-31. For the controversy between Hamilton and Madison, 
under the names of "Pacificus" and "Helvidius," see Hamilton's Works 
ed. 1851), VII., 76-117, and Madisoi\'s Writings (ed. 1865), I., 611-654. 

Whereas it appears that a state of war exists between Austria, 
Prussia, Sardinia, Great Britain, and the United Netherlands, of 
the one part, and France on the other; and the duty and inter- 
est of the United States require, that they should with sincerity 
and good faith adopt and pursue a conduct friendly and impartial 
toward the belligerent Powers : 

I have therefore thought fit by these presents to declare the , 
disposition of the United States to observe the conduct aforesaid 
towards those Powers respectively; and to exhort and warn the 
citizens of the United States carefully to avoid all acts and pro- 
ceedings whatsoever, which may in any manner tend to contra- 
vene such disposition. 

And I do hereby also make known, that whosoever of the citi- 
zens of the United States shall render himself liable to punish- 
ment or forfeiture under the law of nations, by committing, aiding, 
or abetting hostilities against any of the said Powers, or by carry- 
ing to any of them those articles which are deemed contraband 
by the modern usage of nations, will not receive the protection of 
the United States, against such punishment or forfeiture; and 
further, that I have given instructions to those officers, to whom 
it belongs, to cause prosecutions to be instituted against all per- 
sons, who shall, within the cognizance of the courts of the United 
States, violate the law of nations, with respect to the Powers at 
war, or any of them. ... y 

Geo. Washington.- 



No. 57. Treaty with Great Britain 

November 19, 1794 

The non-observance by Great Britain of the provisions of the treaty of 1783 
in regard to the carrying away of slaves and the withdrawal of troops led to 
extended but fruitless diplomatic correspondence. In the autumn of 1793 
relations between the two countries were further strained by the admiralty 



1794] JAY TREATY 245 

orders for the seizure of neutral vessels laden with provisions destined for 
French ports. April 16, 1794, Washington nominated John Jay, chief justice 
of the Supreme Court, as envoy extraordinary to negotiate with Great Britain. 
By a vote of 18 to 8 the nomination was confirmed. Jay reached London 
June 15, and Nov. 19 the treaty was concluded. The treaty was submitted to 
the Senate, in special session, June 8, 1795; on the 24th ratification was ad- 
vised, with a special reservation as to the twelfth article. An act of May 8, 
1796, made appropriations for carrying the treaty into effect. 

References. — Text in U. S. Stat, at Large, VIII., 11 6-1 29. Jay's in- 
structions and the diplomatic correspondence are in Amer. State Papers, 
Foreign Relations, I., 472-520. The proceedings of the Senate are in the 
Annals, 3d Cong., 854-868; discussions in the House are in the Annals, 4th 
Cong., ist Sess., 426-783, and in Benton's Abridgment, I., 639-754. Wash- 
ington's message refusing compliance with the request of the House for papers 
relating to the treaty is in Amer. State Papers (Wait's ed., 181 7), II., 102-105. 
For Hamilton's objections to the treaty when first made known, see Gibbs's 
Administrations of Washington and Adams, I., 223, 224; for his later views, 
over names of "Horatius" and "Camillus," see his Works (ed. 1851), VII., 
169-528. See also Works of Fisher Ames (ed. 1809), 58-93, speech on the 
treaty; Wharton's Digest of I titer n. Law (ed. 1887), II., 161-163; and ib., 
II., 158, 159, for references to judicial decisions involving the treaty. 



Article I. \ 

There shall be a firm, inviolable and universal peace, and a 
true and sincere friendship between his Britannic Majesty, his 
heirs and successors, and the United States of America; and 
between their respective countries, territories, cities, towns and 
people of every degree, without exception of persons or places. 

Article II. 

His Majesty will withdraw all his troops and garrisons from 
all posts and places within the boundary lines assigned by the 
treaty of peace to the United States. This evacuation shall take 
place on or before . . . [June i, 1796,] . . . : The United States 
in the mean time at their discretion, extending their settlements to 
any part within the said boundary line, except within the pre- 
cincts or jurisdiction of any of the said posts. All settlers and 
traders, within the precincts or jurisdiction of the said posts, 
shall continue to enjoy, unmolested, all their property of every 
kind, and shall be protected therein. They shall be at full lib- 



246 JAY TREATY [November 19 

erty to remain there, or to remove with all or any part of their 
effects; and it shall also be free to them to sell their lands, houses, 
or effects, or to retain the property thereof, at their discretion; 
such of them as shall continue to reside within the said boundary 
lines, shall not be compelled to become citizens of the United 
States, or to take any oath of allegiance to the government thereof; 
but they shall be at full liberty so to do if they think proper, and 
they shall make and declare their election within one year after 
the evacuation aforesaid. And all persons who shall continue 
there after the expiration of the said year, without having fleclared 
their intention of remaining subjects of his Britannic Majesty, 
shall be considered as having elected to become citizens of the 
United States. 

Article III.^ 

It is agreed that it shall at all times be free to his Majesty's 
subjects, and to the citizens of the United States, and also to the 
Indians dwelling on either side of the said boundary line, freely 
to pass and repass by land or inland navigation, into the respec- 
tive territories and countries of the two parties, on the continent 
of America (the coun'try within the limits of the Hudson's bay 
Company only excepted) and to navigate all the lakes, rivers 
and waters thereof, and freely to carry on trade and commerce 
with each other. But it is understood, that this article does not 
extend to the admission of vessels of the United States into the 
sea-ports, harbours, bays, or creeks of his Majesty's said territo- 
ries; nor into such parts of the rivers in his Majesty's said terri- 
tories as are between the mouth thereof, and the highest port of 
entry from the sea, except in small vessels trading bona fide 
between Montreal and Quebec, under such regulations as shall 
be established to prevent the possibility of any frauds in this 
respect. Nor to the admission of British vessels from the sea 
into the rivers of the United States, beyond the highest ports of 
entry for foreign vessels from the sea. The river Mississippi 
shall, however, according to the treaty of peace, be entirely open 
to both parties; and it is further agreed, that all the ports and 
places on its eastern side, to whichsoever of the parties belonging, 

'See explanatory article, May 4, 1796: Treaties and Conventions (ed. 1889)5 
29s, 296. — Ed. 



I7Q4] JAY TREATY 247 

may freely be resorted to and used by both parties, in as ample 
a manner as any of the Atlantic ports or places of the United 
States, or any of the ports or places of his Majesty in Great- 
Britain. 

All goods and merchandize whose importation into his Maj- 
esty's said territories in America, shall not be entirely prohibited, 
may freely, for the purposes of commerce, be carried into the 
same in the manner aforesaid, by the citizens of the United States, 
and such goods and merchandize shall be subject to no higher or 
other duties, than would be payable by his Majesty's subjects 
on the importation of the same from Europe into the said territories. 
And in like manner, all goods and merchandize "whose importation 
into the United States shall not be wholly prohibited, may freely, 
for the purposes of commerce, be carried into the same, in the 
manner aforesaid, by his Majesty's subjects, and such goods and 
merchandize shall be subject to no higher or other duties, than 
would be payable by the citizens of the United States on the im- 
portation of the same in American vessels into the Atlantic ports of 
the said states. And all goods not prohibited to be exported from 
the said territories respectively, may in like manner be carried out 
of the same by the two parties respectively, paying duty as afore- 
said. 

No duty of entry shall ever be levied by either party on peltries 
brought by land, or inland navigation into the said territories 
respectively, nor shall the Indians passing or repassing with their 
own proper goods and effects of whatever nature, pay for the same 
any impost or duty whatever. But goods in bales, or other large 
packages, unusual among Indians, shall not be considered as 
goods belonging bona fide to Indians. 

No higher or other tolls or rates of ferriage than what are or 
shall be payable by natives, shall be demanded on either side; 
and no duties shall be payable on any goods which shall merely 
be carried over any of the portages or carrying-places on either 
side, for the purpose of being immediately re-imbarked and car- 
ried to some other place or places. But as by this stipulation it 
is only meant to secure to each party a free passage across the 
portages on both sides: it is agreed, that this exemption from duty 
shall extend only to such goods as are carried in the usual and 
direct road across the portage, and are not attempted to be in 



248 JAY TREATY [November ig 

any manner sold or exchanged during their passage across the 
same. . . . 

Article IV. 

Whereas it is uncertain whether the river Mississippi extends 
so far to the northward, as to be intersected by a Hne to be drawn 
due west from the Lake of the Woods, in the manner mentioned 
in the treaty of peace between his Majesty and the United States: 
it is agreed, that measures shall be taken in concert between his 
Majesty's government in America and the government of the 
United States, for making a joint survey of the said river from 
one degree of latitude below the falls of St. Anthony, to the principal 
source or sources of the said river, and also of the parts adjacent 
thereto ; and that if on the result of such survey, it should appear 
that the said river, would not be intersected by such a line as is 
above mentioned, the two parties will thereupon proceed by 
amicable negociadon, to regulate the boundary line in that quarter, 
as well as all other points to be adjusted between the said parties, 
according to justice and mutual convenience, and in conformity to 
the intent of the said treaty. 

Article V.^ 

Whereas doubts have arisen what river was truly intended under 
the name of the river St. Croix, mentioned in the said treaty of 
peace, and forming a part of the boundary therein described ; that 
question shall be referred to the final decision of commissioners 
to be appointed in the following manner, viz. [Each party to 
choose one commissioner, and these two to choose a third. The 
commissioners to "decide what river is the river St. Croix, in- 
tended by the treaty," and the decision to be final.] 

Article VI. 

Whereas it is alledged by divers British merchants and others 
his Majesty's subjects, that debts, to a considerable amount, 
which were bona fide contracted before the peace, still remain 
owing to them by citizens or inhabitants of the United States, 

'See explanatory article, March 15, 1798: Treaties and Conventions (ed. 
1889), 396, 397. — Ed. 



1794] JAY TREATY 249 

and that by the operation of various lawful impediments since 
the peace, not only the full recovery of the said debts has been 
delayed, but also the value and security thereof have been, in 
several instances, impaired and lessened, so that by the ordi- 
nary course of judicial proceedings, the British creditors cannot 
now obtain, and actually have and receive full and adequate 
compensation for the losses and damages which they have thereby 
sustained. It is agreed, that in all such cases, where full com- 
pensation for such losses and damages cannot, for whatever 
reason, be actually obtained, had and received by the said credi- 
tors in the ordinary course of justice, the United States will 
make full and complete compensation for the same to the said 
creditors: But it is distinctly understood, that this provision is 
to extend to such losses only as have been occasioned by the law- 
ful impediments aforesaid, and is not to extend to losses occa- 
sioned by such insolvency of the debtors, or other causes as would 
equally have operated to produce such loss, if the said impedi- 
ments had not existed; nor to such losses or damages as have 
been occasioned by the manifest delay or negligence, or wilful 
omission of the claimant. 

[Claims to be adjudicated by five comhiissioners, with powers 
and duties as herein prescribed. The awards of the commission- 
ers to be final, "both as to the justice of the claim, and to the 
amount of the sum to be paid to the creditor or claimant."] 

Article VII. 

Whereas complaints have been made by divers merchants and 
others, citizens of the United States, that during the course of 
the war in which his Majesty is now engaged, they have sus- 
tained considerable losses and damage, by reason of irregular or 
illegal captures or condemnations of their vessels and other prop- 
erty, under colour of authority or commissions from his Majesty, 
and that from various circumstances belonging to the said cases, 
adequate compensation for the losses and damages so sustained 
cannot now be actually obtained, had and received by the ordi- 
nary course of judicial proceedings; it is agreed, that in all such 
cases, where adequate compensation cannot, for whatever reason, 
be now actually obtained, had and received by the said merchants 



250 JAY TREATY [November 19 

and others, in the ordinary course of justice, full and complete 
compensation for the same will be made by the British govern- 
ment to the said complainants. But it is distinctly understood, 
that this provision is not to extend to such losses or damages as 
have been occasioned by the manifest delay or negligence, or 
wilful omission of the claimant. 

[Claims to be adjudicated by five commissioners, under like 
conditions to those stated in Art. VI.] ^ 

And whereas certain merchants and others his Majesty's sub- 
jects, complain, that in the course of the war they have sustained 
loss and damage, by reason of the capture of their vessels and mer- 
chandise, taken within the limits and jurisdiction of the states, and 
brought into the ports of the same, or taken by vessels originally 
armed in ports of the said states. 

It is agreed that in all such cases where restitution shall not 
have been made agreeably to the tenor of the letter from Mr. 
Jefiferson to Mr. Hammond, dated at Philadelphia, Sept. 5, 1793, 
a copy of which is annexed to this treaty ; - the complaints of the 
parties shall be and hereby are referred to the commissioners to 
be appointed by virtue of this article, who are hereby authorized 
and required to proceed in the like manner relative to these as 
to the other cases committed to them. . . . 

******** 

Article X. 

Neither the debts due from individuals of the one nation to 
individuals of the other, nor shares, nor monies which they may 
have in the public funds, or in the public or private banks, shall 
ever in any event of war or national differences be sequestered or 
confiscated. . , . 

Article XI. 

It is agreed between his Majesty and the United States of 
America, that there shall be a reciprocal and entirely perfect 
liberty of navigation and commerce between their respective 

* A convention providing for payment of indemnity under Articles VI. and 
VII., and debts under Article IV. of the treaty of Sept. 3, 1783, was concluded 
Jan. 8, 1802. Treaties and Conventions (ed. 1889), 398, 399. — Ed. 

^ Treaties and Conventions (ed. 1889), 394, 395. — Ed. 



1794] JAY TREATY 251 

people, in the manner, under the limitations and on the condi- 
tions specified in the following articles: 

Article XII. 

[Art. XII., relating to trade with the West Indies, was sus- 
pended by the resolution of the Senate advising ratification, and 
the suspension was agreed to by Great Britain.] 

Article XIII. 

His Majesty consents that the vessels belonging to the citizens 
of the United States of America, shall be admitted and hospitably 
received, in all the sea-ports and harbours of the British territories 
in the East-Indies. And that the citizens of the said United 
States, may freely carry on a trade between the said territories 
and the said United States, in all articles of which the impor- 
tation or exportation respectively, to or from the said territories, 
shall not be entirely prohibited. Provided only, that it shall 
not be lawful for them in any time of war between the British 
government and any other power or state whatever, to export 
from the said territories, without the special permission of the 
British government there, any military stores, or naval stores, or 
rice. The citizens of the United States shall pay for their ves- 
sels when admitted into the said ports no other or higher tonnage- 
duty than shall be payable on British vessels when admitted into 
the ports of the United States. And they shall pay no other or 
higher duties or charges, on the importation or exportation of the 
cargoes of the said vessels, than shall be payable on the same 
articles when imported or exported in British vessels. But it is 
expressly agreed, that the vessels of the United States shall not 
carry any of the articles exported by them from the said British 
territories, to any port or place, except to some port or place in 
America, where the same shall be unladen, and such regulations 
shall be adopted by both parties, as shall from time to time be 
found necessary to enforce the due and faithful observance of 
this stipulation. It is also understood that the permission 
granted by this article, is not to extend to allow the vessels of 
the United States to carry on any part of the coasting-trade of 
the said British territories; but vessels going with their original 



252 JAY TREATY [November 19 

cargoes, or part thereof, from one port of discharge to another, 
are not to be considered as carrying on the coasting-trade. 
Neither is this article to be construed to allow the citizens of 
the said states to settle or reside within the said territories, or to 
go into the interior parts thereof, without the permission of the 
British government established there. . . . And the citizens of 
the United States, whenever they arrive in any port or harbour in 
the said territories, or if they should be permitted in manner 
aforesaid, to go to any other place therein, shall always be subject 
to the laws, government, and jurisdiction of what nature estab- 
lished in such harbor, port or place, according as the same may 
be. The citizens of the United States may also touch for refresh- 
ment at the island of St. Helena, but subject in all respects to such 
regulations as the British government may from time to time 
establish there. 

Article XIV. 

There shall be between all the dominions of his Majesty in 
Europe and the territories of the United States, a reciprocal and 
perfect liberty of commerce and navigation. The people and 
inhabitants of the two countries respectively, shall have liberty 
freely and securely, and without hindrance and molestation, to 
come with their ships and cargoes to the lands, countries, cities, 
ports, places and rivers, within the dominions and territories 
aforesaid, to enter into the same, to resort there, and to remain 
and reside there, without any limitation of time. Also to hire 
and possess houses and ware-houses for the purposes of their com- 
merce, and generally the merchants and traders on each side, 
shall enjoy the most complete protection and security for their 
commerce; but subject always as to what respects this article to 
the laws and statutes of the two countries respectively. 

Article XV. 

It is agreed that no other or higher duties shall be paid by the 
ships or merchandize of the one party in the ports of the other, 
than such as are paid by the like vessels or merchandize of all 
other nations. Nor shall any other or higher duty be imposed in 
one country on the importation of any articles the growth, prod- 



1794] JAY TREATY 253 

uce or manufacture of the other, than are or shall be payable 
on the importation of the like articles being of the growth, prod- 
uce, or manufacture of any other foreign country. Nor shall 
any prohibition be imposed on the exportation or importation of 
any articles to or from the territories of the two parties respec- 
tively, which shall not equally extend to all other nations. 

But the British government reserves to itself the right of 
imposing on American vessels entering into the British ports in 
Europe, a tonnage duty equal to that which shall be payable by 
British vessels in the ports of America: And also such duty as 
may be adequate to countervail the difiference of duty now pay- 
able on the importation of European and Asiatic goods, when 
imported into the United States in British or in American vessels. 

The two parties agree to treat for the more exact equalization 
of the duties on the respective navigation of their subjects and 
people, in such manner as may be most beneficial to the two 
countries. ... In the interval it is agreed, that the United 
States will not impose any new or additional tonnage duties on 
British vessels, nor increase the now-subsisting difference between 
the duties payable on the importation of any articles in British or 
in American vessels. 

Article XVI. 
[Provides for the appointment of consuls.] 

Article XVIL 

It is agreed, that in all cases where vessels shall be captured or 
detained on just suspicion of having on board enemy's property, 
or of carrying to the enemy any of the articles which are contra- 
band of war; the said vessel shall be brought to the nearest or 
most convenient port; and if any property of an enemy should 
be found on board such vessel, that part only which belongs to 
the enemy shall be made prize, and the vessel shall be at liberty 
to proceed with the remainder without any impediment. . . . 

Article XVIII. 

In order to regulate what is in future to be esteemed contra- 
band of war, it is agreed, that under the said denomination shall 



254 JAY TREATY [November 19 

be comprised all arms and implements serving for the purposes of 
war, by land or sea, such as cannon, muskets, mortars, petards, 
bombs, grenades, carcasses, saucisses, carriages for cannon, mus- 
ket rests, bandoliers, gun-powder, match, saltpetre, ball, pikes, 
swords, head-pieces, cuirasses, halberts, lances, javelins, horse- 
furniture, holsters, belts, and generally all other implements of 
war; as also timber for ship-building, tar or rozin, copper in 
sheets, sails, hemp, and cordage, and generally whatever may 
serve directly to the equipment of vessels, unwrought iron and 
fir planks only excepted; and all the above articles are hereby 
declared to be just objects of confiscation, whenever they are 
attempted to be carried to an enemy. 

And whereas the difficulty of agreeing on the precise cases in 
which alone provisions and other articles not generally contra- 
band may be regarded as such, renders it expedient to provide 
against the inconveniences and misunderstandings which might 
thence arise : It is further agreed, that whenever any such articles 
so becoming contraband', according to the existing laws of nations, 
shall for that reason be seized, the same shall not be confiscated, 
but the owners thereof shall be speedily and completely indem- 
nified; and the captors, or in their default, the government 
under whose authority they act, shall pay to the masters or owners 
of such vessels, the full value of all such articles, with a reason- 
able mercantile profit thereon, together with the freight, and also 
the demurrage incident to such detention. 

And whereas it frequently happens that vessels sail for a port 
or place belonging to an enemy, without knowing that the same 
is either besieged, blockaded or invested; it is agreed, that every 
vessel so circumstanced, may be turned away from such port or 
place, but she shall not be detained, nor her cargo, if not contra- 
band, be confiscated, unless after notice she shall again attempt 
to enter; but she shall be permitted to go to any other port or 
place she may think proper; Nor shall any vessel or goods of 
either party, that may have entered into such port or place, before 
the same was besieged, blockaded, or invested by the other, and 
be found therein after the reduction or surrender of such place, 
be liable to confiscation, but shall be restored to the owners or 
proprietors thereof. 



,794] JAY TREATY 255 



Article XIX. 

And that more abundant care may be taken for the security of 
the respective subjects and citizens of the contracting parties, 
and to prevent their suffering injuries by the men of war, or pri- 
vateers of either party, all commanders of ships of war and 
privateers, and all others the said subjects and citizens, shall 
forbear doing any damage to those of the other party, or commit- 
ting any outrage against them, and if they act to the contrary, they 
shall be punished, and shall also be bound in their persons and 
estates to make satisfaction and reparation for all damages, and 
the interest thereof, of whatever nature the said' damages may 
be. . . . 

Article XXI. 

It is likewise agreed, that the subjects and citizens of the two 
nations, shall not do any acts of hostility or violence against each 
other, nor accept commissions or instructions so to act from any 
foreign prince or state, enemies to the other party; nor shall the 
enemies of one of the parties be permitted to invite, or endeavor 
to enlist in their military service, any of the subjects or citizens 
of the other party; and the laws against all such offences and 
aggressions shall be punctually executed. And if any subject or 
citizen of the said parties respectively, shall accept any foreign 
commission, or letters of marque, for arming any vessel to act as a 
privateer against the other party, and be taken by the other party, 
it is hereby declared to be lawful for the said party, to treat and 
punish the said subject or citizen, having such commission or 
letters of marque, as a pirate. 

Article XXII. 

It is expressly stipulated, that neither of the said contracting 
parties will order or authorize any acts of reprisal against the 
other, on complaints of injuries or damages, until the said party 
shall first have presented to the other a statement thereof, veri- 
fied by competent proof and evidence, and demanded justice and 



255 JAY TREATY [November 19 

satisfaction, and the same shall either have been refused or un- 
reasonably delayed. 

Article XXIII. 

The ships of war of each of the contracting parties shall, at all 
times, be hospitably received in the ports of the other, their 
officers and crews paying due respect to the laws and govern- 
ment of the country. . . . And his Majesty consents, that in 
case an American vessel should, by stress of weather, danger 
from enemies or other misfortune, be reduced to the necessity of 
seeking shelter in any of his Majesty's ports, into which such 
vessel could not in ordinary cases claim to be admitted, she shall, 
on manifesting' that necessity to the satisfaction of the govern- 
ment of the place, be hospitably received and be permitted to 
refit, and to purchase at the market price, such necessaries as she 
may stand in need of, conformably to such orders and regulations 
as the government of the place, having respect to the circum- 
stances of each case, shall prescribe. She shall not be allowed to 
break bulk or unload her cargo, unless the same should be bona 
fide necessary to her being refitted. Nor shall be permitted to 
sell any part of her cargo, unless so much only as may be neces- 
sary to defray her expences, and then not without the express 
permission of the government of the place. Nor shall she be 
obliged to pay any duties whatever, except only on such articles 
as she may be permitted to sell for the purpose aforesaid. 

Article XXIV. 

It shall not be lawful for any foreign privateers (not being sub- 
jects or citizens of either of the said parties) who have commis- 
sions from any other prince or state in enmity with either nation, 
to arm their ships in the ports of either of the said parties, nor to 
sell what they have taken, nor in any other manner to exchange the 
same; nor shall they be allowed to purchase more provisions, than 
shall be necessary for their going to the nearest port of that prince 
or state from whom they obtained their commissions. 

Article XXV. 

It shall be lawful for the ships of war and privateers belonging 
to the said parties respectively, to carry whithersoever they please, 



1794] JAY TREATY 257 

the ships and goods taken from their enemies, without being 
obHged to pay any fee to the officers of the admiralty, or to any 
judges whatever; nor shall the said prizes when they arrive at, 
and enter the ports of the said parties, be detained or seized, 
neither shall the searchers or other officers of those places visit 
such prizes, (except for the purpose of preventing the carrying of 
any part of the cargo thereof on shore in any manner contrary to 
the established laws of revenue, navigation or commerce) nor 
shall such officers take cognizance of the validity of such prizes; 
but they shall be at liberty to hoist sail, and depart as speedily as 
may be, and carry their said prizes to the place mentioned in 
their commissions or patents, which the commanders of the said 
ships of war or privateers shall be obliged to show. No shelter 
or refuge shall be given in their ports to such as have made a 
prize upon the subjects or citizens of either of the said parties; 
but if forced by stress of weather, or the dangers of the sea, to 
enter therein, particular care shall be taken to hasten their de- 
parture, and to cause them to retire as soon as possible. Noth- 
ing in this treaty contained shall, however, be construed or 
operate contrary to former and existing pubhc treaties with other 
sovereigns or states. But the two parties agree, that while they 
continue in amity, neither of them will in future make any treaty 
that shall be inconsistent with this or the preceding article. 

Neither of the said parties shall permit the ships or goods 
belonging to the subjects or citizens of the other, to be taken 
within cannon-shot of the coast, nor in any of the bays, ports, 
or rivers of their territories, by ships of war, or others having 
commission from any prince, republic, or state whatever. . . . 

Article XXVI. 

If at any time a rupture should take place, (which God forbid) 
between his Majesty and the United States, the merchants and 
others of each of the two nations, residing in the dominions of 
the other, shall have the privilege of remaining and continuing 
their trade, so long as they behave peaceably, and commit no 
offence against the laws; and in case their conduct should render 
them suspected, and the respective governments should think 
proper to order them to remove, the term of twelve months from 



258 ALIEN AND SEDITION ACTS [1798 

the publication of the order shall be allowed them for that pur- 
pose, to remove with their families, effects and property; but this 
favour shall not be extended to those who shall act contrary to the 
established laws; . . . such rupture shall not be deemed to 
exist, while negociations for accommodating differences shall be 
depending, nor until the respective ambassadors or ministers, if 
such there shall be, shall be recalled, or sent home on account 
of such differences. . . . 

Article XXVII. 

[Provides for the extradition of persons charged with murder 
or forgery.] 

Article XXVIII. 

It is agreed, that the first ten articles of this treaty shall be 
permanent, and that the subsequent articles, e.xcept the twelfth, 
shall be limited in their duration to twelve years, to be computed 
from the day on which the ratifications of this treaty shall be 
exchanged. . . } 



Alien and Sedition Acts 
1798 

The papers relating to the mission to France, communicated to Congress 
April 3, 1798, were printed by order of the Senate April 9. The publication 
of the dispatches "solidified opposition to France, and gave both houses to 
Federalist control. Leading republican journalists were chiefly foreigners, 
and one of the first objects of the Federalists was to muzzle these aliens" 
(Johnston). The result of these efforts was the passage of the four acts 
following, known collectively as the alien and sedition acts. 

References. — For the texts of the acts, and their legislative history, .see 
under each act, following. For the proceedings in Congress, see House and 
Senate Journals, 5th Cong. 2d Sess. ; for the debates, see the Annals, 5th 
Cong., or Benton's Abridgment, II. The adverse report of a committee of 
the House, Feb. 21, 1799, on petitions for the repeal of the laws, is in Amer. 
State Papers, Miscellaneous, I., 181-184. 



* Signed: "Grcnville, John Jay." — Ed. 



1798] NATURALIZATION ACT 259 

No. 58. Naturalization Act 

June 18, 1798 

April 19, 1798, Coit of Connecticut introduced in the House a resolution 
for the appointment of a committee to consider the expediency of suspending 
or amending the existing law regarding naturalization. With the addition of 
a clause calling upon the committee "to consider and report upon the expedi- 
ency of establishing by law regulations respecting aliens arriving or residing 
within the United States," the resolution was adopted. May 3 the committee 
reported three resolutions, the first of which favored a longer term of residence 
for aliens before naturalization. The first two resolutions were agreed to by 
the House, and referred to a committee, which on May 15 brought in a bill to 
amend the naturalization law. The bill was taken up on the 21st, discussed 
at length, and on the 2 2d passed, after an unsuccessful attempt to incorporate 
a provision suspending for a limited time the operation of the act. In the 
Senate the bill was referred to a committee of three, which reported an amended 
bill June 8. The bill as reported was agreed to on the nth, and on the 12th, 
after further amendments, passed by a vote of 13 to 8. June 13 the House 
agreed to the Senate amendments; on the i8th the act was approved. 

References. — Text in U. S. Stat, at Large, I., 566-569. The act was 
repealed by the act of April 14, 1802 {Stat, at Large, II., 153-155). 

An Ad sjipplemeniary to and to amend the act, intituled '^An act 
to establish an uniform rule of naturalization; and to repeal 
the act heretofore passed on that subject. 

Section i. Be it enacted . . . , That no alien shall be ad- 
mitted to become a citizen of the United States, or of any state, 
unless in the manner prescribed by the act, intituled "An act to 
establish an uniform rule of naturalization; and to repeal the act 
heretofore passed on that subject," ^ he shall have declared his 
intention to become a citizen of the United States, five years, at 
least, before his admission, and shall, at the time of his applica- 
tion to be admitted, declare and prove, to the satisfaction of the 
court having jurisdiction in the case, that he has resided within 
the United States fourteen years, at least, and within the state or 
territory where, or for which such court is at the time held, five 
years, at least, besides conforming to the other declarations, re- 
nunciations and proofs, by the said act required, any thing therein 
to the contrary hereof notwithstanding: Provided, that any alien, 

' Act of Jan. 2q, 1795 (Stat, at Large, I., 414, 415), repealing act of March 
26, 1790 (Stat, at Large, I., 103, 104). — Ed. 



26o NATURALIZATION ACT [June i8 

who was residing within the Hmits, and under the jurisdiction of 
the United States, before . . . [January 29, 1795,] . . . may, 
within one year after the passing of this act — and any ahen who 
shall have made the declaration of his intention to become a citi- 
zen of the United States, in conformity to the provisions of the 
act [of Jan. 29, 1795], may, within four years after having made 
the declaration aforesaid, be admitted to become a citizen, in the 
manner prescribed by the said act, upon his making proof that he 
has resided five years, at least, within the limits, and under the 
jurisdiction of the United States: And provided also, that no alien, 
who shall be a native, citizen, denizen or subject of any nation or 
state with whom the United States shall be at war, at the time of 
his application, shall be then admitted to become a citizen of the 
United States. 

******** 

Sec. 4. And be il further enacted, That all white persons, aliens, 
(accredited foreign ministers, consuls, or agents, their families and 
domestics, excepted) who, after the passing of this act, shall con- 
tinue to reside, or who shall arrive, or come to reside in any port 
or place within the territory of the United States, shall be reported, 
if free, and of the age of twenty-one years, by themselves, or 
being under the age of twenty-one years, or holden in service, 
by their parent, guardian, master or mistress in whose care they 
shall be, to the clerk of the district court of the district, if living 
within ten miles of the port or place, in which their residence or 
arrival shall be, and otherwise, to the collector of such port or 
place, or some officer or other person there, or nearest thereto, 
who shall be authorized by the President of the United States, to 
register aliens: And report, as aforesaid, shall be made in all 
cases of residence, within six months from and after the passing 
of this act, and in all after cases, within forty-eight hours after the 
first arrival or coming into the territory of the United States, and 
shall ascertain the sex, place of birth, age, nation, place of alle- 
giance or citizenship, condition or occupation, and place of actual 
or intended residence within the United States, of the alien or 
aliens reported, and by whom the report is made. . . . And the 
clerk of each district court shall, during one year from the passing 
of this act, make monthly returns to the department of State, of 
all aliens registered and returned, as aforesaid, in his office. 



1798] ALIEN ACT 261 

Sec. 5. And be it further enacted, That every alien who shall 
continue to reside, or who shall arrive, as aforesaid, of whom a 
report is required as aforesaid, who shall refuse or neglect to 
make such report, and to receive a certificate thereof, shall forfeit 
and pay the sum of two dollars; and any justice of the peace, or 
other civil magistrate, who has authority to require surety of the 
peace, shall and may, on complaint to him made thereof, cause 
such alien to be brought before him, there to give surety of the 
peace and good behaviour during his residence within the United 
States, or for such term as the justice or other magistrate shall 
deem reasonable, and until a report and registry of such alien 
shall be made, and a certificate thereof, received as aforesaid; 
and in failure of such surety, such alien shall and may be com- 
mitted to the common gaol, and shall be there held, until the 
order which the justice or magistrate shall and may reasonably 
make, in the premises, shall be performed. And every person, 
whether alien, or other, having the care of any alien or aliens, 
under the age of twenty-one years, or of any white alien holden 
in service, who shall refuse and neglect to make report thereof, as 
aforesaid, shall forfeit the sum of two dollars, for each and every 
such minor or servant, monthly, and every month, until a report 
and registry, and a certificate thereof, shall be had, as aforesaid. 



No. 59. Alien Act 

June 25, 1798 

April 25, 1798, Senator Hillhouse of Connecticut introduced a resolution 
for the appointment of a committee " to consider whether any, and what pro- 
visions ought to be made by law, for removing from the territory of the 
United States, such aliens born, not entitled by the Constitution and laws 
thereof to the rights of citizenship, as may be dangerous to its peace and 
safety; and providing for returns to be made of all aliens that shall be landed 
from any vessel which shall arrive in any of the ports of the United States; 
and that permits be granted to such as shall be suffered to reside therein ; and 
to report by bill or otherwise." The next day the resolution, with the word 
"bom" stricken out, was adopted. May 4 the committee reported a bill, 
which was read a second time May 8, and debated until June i, when it was 
recommitted. An amended bill was reported June 4, and passed, with further 



262 ALIEN ACT [June 25 

amendments, June 8, by a vote of 16 to 7. The bill was taken up in the 
House June 18, and passed with amendments on the 21st, by a vote of 46 to 
40. On the 22d the Senate concurred in the House amendments; on the 
25th the act was approved. 

References. — Text in U. S. Slat, at Large, I., 570-572. 

An Act concerning Aliens. 

Section i. Be it enacted . . . , That it shall be lawful for the 
President of the United States at any time during the continuance 
of this act, to order all such aliens as he shall judge dangerous 
to the peace and safety of the United States, or shall have reason- 
able grounds to suspect are concerned in any treasonable or secret 
machinations against the government thereof, to depart out of 
the territory of the United States, within such time as shall be 
expressed in such order, which order shall be served on such 
alien by delivering him a copy thereof, or leaving the same at his 
usual abode, and returned to the office of the Secretary of State, 
by the marshal or other person to whom the same shall be directed. 
And in case any alien, so ordered to depart, shall be found at large 
within the United States after the time limited in such order for 
his departure, and not having obtained a license from the President 
to reside therein, or having obtained such license shall not have 
conformed thereto, every such alien shall, on conviction thereof, 
be imprisoned for a term not exceeding three years, and shall 
never after be admitted to become a citizen of the United States. 
Provided always, and be it further enacted, that if any alien so 
ordered to depart shall prove to the satisfaction of the President, 
by evidence to be taken before such person or persons as the 
President shall direct, who are for that purpose hereby authorized 
to administer oaths, that no injury or danger to the United States 
will arise from suffering such alien to reside therein, the President 
may grant a license to such alien to remain within the United 
States for such time as he shall judge proper, and at such place 
as he may designate. And the President may also require of such 
alien to enter into a bond to the United States, in such penal sum 
as he may direct, with one or more sufficient sureties to the satis- 
faction of the person authorized by the President to take the same, 
conditioned for the good behavior of such alien during his residence 
in the United States, and not violating his license, which license 
the President may revoke, whenever he shall think proper. 



1798] ALIEN ENEMIES ACT 263 

Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That it shall be lawful for the 
President of the United States, whenever he may deem it neces- 
sary for the pubhc safety, to order to be removed out of the terri- 
tory thereof, any alien who may or shall be in prison in pursuance 
of this act; and to cause to be arrested and sent out of the United 
States such of those aliens as shall have been ordered to depart 
therefrom and shall not have obtained a license as aforesaid, in 
all cases where, in the opinion of the President, the public safety 
requires a speedy removal. And if any alien so removed or sent 
out of the United States by the President shall voluntarily return 
thereto, unless by permission of the President of the United States, 
such alien on conviction thereof, shall be imprisoned so long as, 
in the opinion of the President, the public safety may require. 

Sec. 3. [Masters of vessels to report ahens brought in, &c.]. 

Sec. 5. And be it further enacted, That it shall be lawful for 
any alien who may be ordered to be removed from the United 
States, by virtue of this act, to take with him such part of his 
goods, chattels, or other property, as he may find convenient; 
and all property left in the United States by any alien, who may 
be removed, as aforesaid, shall be, and remain subject to his order 
and disposal, in the same manner as if this act had not been 
passed. 

Sec. 6. And be it further enacted. That this act shall continue 
and be in force for and during the term of two years from the 
passing thereof.^ 



No. 60. Alien Enemies Act 

July 6, 1798 

A "bill respecting alien enemies" was introduced in the House May 18, 
1798, considered in Committee of the Whole House on the 22d, and the next 
day, by a vote of 46 to 44, recommitted. The committee reported an amended 
bill June 8; on the same day the "act concerning aliens" was received from 
the Senate, and both bills were made the order of the day for June 11. The 
alien enemies bill was not reached until the 25th; the next day it passed the 
House. On the 27th the Senate referred the bOl to the committee having also 

1 The act was not renewed. — Ed. 



264 ALIEN ENEMIES ACT [July 6 

in charge the sedition bill; this committee reported an amended bill July 2, 
which passed the Senate on the 3d. On the same day the House agreed to 
the Senate amendments, and on the 6th the act was approved. 

References. — Text in U. S. Stat, at Large, I., 577, 578. Compare 
Revised Statutes (ed. 1878), sees. 4067-4070. The te.xt of the bill introduced 
May 18 is in the Annals, 5th Cong., under date of May 22. 

An Ad respecting Alien Enemies. 

Section i. Be it enacted . . . , That whenever there shall be 
a declared war between the United States and any foreign nation 
or government, or any invasion or predatory incursion shall be 
perpetrated, attempted, or threatened against the territory of 
the United States, by any foreign nation or government, and the 
President of the United States shall make public proclamation 
of the event, all natives, citizens, denizens, or subjects of the 
hostile nation or government, being males of the age of fourteen 
years and upwards, who shall be within the United States, and not 
actually naturalized, shall be liable to be apprehended, restrained, 
secured and removed, as alien enemies. And the President of 
the United States shall be, and he is hereby authorized, in any 
event, as aforesaid, by his proclamation thereof, or other public 
act, to direct the conduct to be observed, on the part of the United 
States, towards the aliens who shall become liable, as aforesaid; 
the manner and degree of the restraint to which they shall be 
subject, and in what cases, and upon what security their residence 
shall be permitted, and to provide for the removal of those, who, 
not being permitted to reside within the United States, shall refuse 
or neglect to depart therefrom; and to establish any other regula- 
tions which shall be found necessary in the premises and for the 
public safety: Provided, that aliens resident within the United 
States, who shall become liable as enemies, in the manner afore- 
said, and who shall not be chargeable with actual hostility, or 
other crime against the public safety, shall be allowed, for the 
recovery, disposal, and removal of their goods and effects, and for 
their departure, the full time which is, or shall be stipulated by 
any treaty, where any shall have been between the United States, 
and the hostile nation or government, of which they shall be 
natives, citizens, denizens or subjects: and when no such treaty 
shall have existed, the President of the United States may ascertain 
and declare such reasonable time as may be consistent with the 



1798] SEDITION ACT 265 

public safety, and according to the dictates of humanity and 
national hospitality. 

[Sections 2 and 3 relate to the duties of courts and marshals 
in connection with this act.] 



No. 61. Sedition Act 

July 14, 1798 

June 23, 1798, Senator Lloyd of Maryland gave notice of his intention to 
ask for leave to bring in a bill "to define more particularly the crime of trea- 
son, and to define and punish the crime of sedition." When the matter came 
up on the 26th, a motion was made to refer the request to a committee; the 
motion was lost, the vote being 4 to 17, and by a vote of 14 to 8 leave was 
given to introduce the bill. The next day the bill, by a vote of 15 to 6, was 
referred to a committee. Amendments to the bill were reported by the com- 
mittee July 2, agreed to on the 3d, and the bill, by a vote of 18 to 5, ordered 
to a third reading. On the 4th the bill passed, the vote being 18 to 6. In 
the House the following day a motion to reject the bill was defeated, 36 to 47. 
July 6 an attempt to refer the bill to a select committee also failed, and a set 
of resolutions for the punishment of seditious writers, submitted by Harper of 
South Carolina, was referred to the Committee of the Whole House. The 
sedition bill was considered July 9; all except the first section of the Senate 
bill was stricken out and new sections inserted; on the loth the amended 
bill, by vote of 44 to 41, passed the House. On the 12th the Senate con- 
curred in the House amendments; on the 14th the act was approved. 

References. — Text in U. S. Stat, at Large, I., 596, 597. An abstract of 
the Senate bill is in the Annals, 5th Cong., II., 2093. Harper's resolutions 
are in the House Journal, also in the Annals. For prosecutions under the 
sedition act, see Wharton's State Trials, 2,2i2>, 659, 684, 688. 

An Act in addition to the act, entitled "An Act for the punishment 
of certain crimes against the United States." 

Section i. Be it enacted . . . , That if any persons shall ' 
unlawfully combine or conspire together, with intent to oppose 
any measure or measures of the government of the United States, j 
which are or shall be directed by proper authority, or to impede ■ 
the operation of any law of the United States, or to intimidate ' 
or prevent any person holding a place or office in or under the 
government of the United States, from undertaking, performing 
or executing his trust or duty; and if any person or persons, 



266 SEDITION ACT [July 14 

with intent as aforesaid, shall counsel, advise or attempt to procure 
any insurrection, riot, unlawful assembly, or combination, whether 
such conspiracy, threatening, counsel, advice, or attempt shall 
have the proposed effect or not, he or they shall be deemed guilty 
of a high misdemeanor, and on conviction, before any court of 
the United States having jurisdiction thereof, shall be punished 
by a fine not exceeding five thousand dollars, and by imprisonment 
during a term not less than six months nor exceeding five years; 
and further, at the discretion of the court may be holden to find 
sureties for his good behaviour in such sum, and for such time, 
as the said court may direct. 

Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That if any person shall 
write, print, utter or publish, or shall cause or procure to be 
written, printed, uttered or published, or shall knowingly and 
willingly assist or aid in writing, printing, uttering or publishing 
any false, scandalous and malicious writing or writings against the 
government of the United States, or either house of the Congress 
of the United States, or the President of the United States, with 
intent to defame the said government, or either house of the said 
Congress, or the said President, or to bring them, or either of 
them, into contempt or disrepute; or to excite against them, or 
either or any of them, the hatred of the good people of the United 
States, or to stir up sedition v>'ithin the United States, or to excite 
any unlawful combinations therein, for opposing or resisting any 
law of the United States, or any act of the President of the United 
States, done in pursuance of any such law, or of the powers in 
him vested by the constitution of the United States, or to resist, 
oppose, or defeat any such law or act, or to aid, encourage or 
abet any hostile designs of any foreign nation against the United 
States, their people or government, then such person, being 
thereof convicted before any court of the United States having 
jurisdiction thereof, shall be punished by a fine not exceeding 
two thousand dollars, and by imprisonment not exceeding two 
years. 

Sec. 3. And he it further enacted and declared, That if any 
person shall be prosecuted under this act, for the writing or pub- 
lishing any libel aforesaid, it shall be lawful for the defendant, 
upon the trial of the cause, to give in evidence in his defence, the 
truth of the matter contained in the publication charged as a libel. 



1798] KENTUCKY AND VIRGINIA RESOLUTIONS 267 

And the jury who shall try the cause, shall have a right to deter- 
mine the law and the fact, under the direction of the court, as in 
other cases. 

Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That this act shall continue 
and be in force until . . . [March 3, 180 1] . . . , and no longer : * 
Provided, that the expiration of the act shall not prevent or defeat 
a prosecution and punishment of any offence against the law, 
during the time it shall be in force. 



Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions 

1798, 1799 

The Virginia resolutions of 1798 and the Kentucky resolutions of 1798 
and 1 799 were outcomes of the discussion over the alien and sedition laws. 
The legislature of Kentucky met Nov. 7, 1798, and on the following day 
John Breckinridge introduced in the House a set of lesolutions, the original 
draft of which had been prepared by Jefferson. The resolutions, with 
amendments, were adopted by the House on the loth; on the 13th the 
Senate concurred, and on the i6th the resolutions received the approval of 
the governor. A set of resolutions prepared by Madison, then a member 
of the Virginia legislature, was presented in that body Dec. 13, 1798, by 
John Taylor. The resolutions were debated until the 21st, when, by a vote 
of 100 to 63, they were adopted; on the 24th they passed the Senate, the 
vote being 14 to 3, and were approved by the governor. Copies of each 
set of resolutions were transmitted to the governors of the various States to 
be laid before the legislatures. Replies were made by the legislatures of 
New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New 
York, and Delaware, and in each case were " decidedly unfavorable." In 
1799 Kentucky reaffirmed its adherence to the doctrine of the resolutions 
of 1798, and added another resolution. In Virginia the replies of the State 
legislatures were referred to a committee, of which Madison was chairman, 
which made an elaborate report Jan. 7, 1800. 

References. — For the texts, see under each set of resolutions, follow- 
ing. The answers of the State legislatures are in Elliot's Debates (ed. 1836), 
IV., 558-565, where are also Madison's report of 1800, and extracts from 
an " address to the people " accompanying the Virginia resolutions. Madi- 
son's report is also in his Writings (ed. 1865), IV., 515-555; see also vari- 
ous letters of Madison, ib. II., 151-156; IV., 95-111. Warfield's Kentuciiy 
Resolutions of 1798 is of special importance; cf. review in Nation, XLV.j 
528, 529, and correspondence in ib., XLIV., 382-384, 467, 468. 

^ The act was not renewed. — Ed. 



268 KENTUCKY RESOLUTIONS [November i6 



No. 62. Kentucky Resolutions 

November 16, 1798 

References. — Text in Shaler's Kentucky, 409-416, certified as a true 
copy of the original in the Massachusetts archives. The formal endorse- 
ments at the end are omitted. Jefferson's draft is in his Works (ed. 1856), 

IX., 464-471- 

I. Resolved, that the several States composing the United States 
of America, are not united on the principle of unHmited submis- 
sion to their general government ; but that by compact under the 
style and title of a Constitution for the United States and of amend- 
ments thereto, they constituted a general government for special 
purposes, delegated to that, government certain definite powers, 
reserving each State to itself, tlie residuary mass of right to their 
own self-government; and that whensoever the general govern- 
ment assumes undelegated powers, its acts are unauthoritative, 
void, and of no force: That to this compact each State acceded 
as a State, and is an integral party, its co-States forming, as to 
itself, the other party: That the government created by this com- 
pact was not made the exclusive or final judge of the extent of 
the powers delegated to itself; since that would have made its 
discretion, and not the Constitution, the measure of its powers; 
but that as in all other cases of compact among parties having no 
common Judge, each party has an equal right to judge for itself, 
as well of infractions as of the mode and measure of redress. 

II. Resolved, that the Constitution of the United States having 
delegated to Congress a power to punish treason, counterfeiting 
the securities and current coin of the United States, piracies and 
felonies committed on the high seas, and offenses against the laws 
of nations, and no other crimes whatever, and it being true as a 
general principle, and one of the amendments to the Constitution 
having also declared "that the powers not delegated to the United 
States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are 
reserved to the States respectively, or to the people," therefore 
also . . . [the Sedition Act of July 14, 17Q8] . . . : as also the 
act passed by them on the 27th day of June, 1798, entitled "An 
act to punish frauds committed on the Bank of the United States" 



1798] KENTUCKY RESOLUTIONS 269 

(and all other their acts which assume to create, define, or punish 
crimes other than those enumerated in the Constitution), are 
altogether void and of no force, and that the power to create, 
define, and punish such other crimes is reserved, and of right 
appertains solely and exclusively to the respective States, each 
within its own Territory. 

III. Resolved, that it is true as a general principle, and is also 
expressly declared by one of the amendments to the Constitution 
that "the powers not delegated to the United States by the Con- 
stitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the 
States respectively or to the people;" and that no power over 
the freedom of religion, freedom of speech, or freedom of the 
press being delegated to the United States by the Constitution, 
nor prohibited by it to the States, all lawful powers respecting the 
same did of right remain, and were reserved to the States, or to 
the people: That thus was manifested their determination to 
retain to themselves the right of judging how far the licentious- 
ness of speech and of the press may be abridged without lessening 
their useful freedom, and how far those abuses which cannot be 
separated from their use should be tolerated rather than the use 
be destroyed ; and thus also they guarded against all abridgment 
by the United States of the freedom of religious opinions and 
exercises, and retained to themselves the right of protecting the 
same, as this State, by a law passed on the general demand of its 
citizens, had already protected them from all human restraint or 
interference: And that in addition to this general principle and 
express declaration, another and more special provision has been 
made by one of the amendments to the Constitution which 
expressly declares, that "Congress shall make no law respecting 
an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise 
thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press," 
thereby guarding in the same sentence, and under the same 
words, the freedom of religion, of speech, and of the press, inso- 
much, that whatever violates either, throws down the sanctuary 
which covers the others, and that libels, falsehoods, defamation 
equally with heresy and false religion, are withheld from the cog- 
nizance of Federal tribunals. That therefore . . . [the Sedition 
Act] . . . , which does abridge the freedom of the press, is not 
law, but is altogether void and of no effect. 



270 KENTUCKY RESOLUTIONS [November 16 

IV. Resolved, that alien friends are under the jurisdiction and 
protection of the laws of the State wherein they are; that no 
power over them has been delegated to the United States, nor 
prohibited to the individual States distinct from their power over 
citizens; and it being true as a general principle, and one of the 
amendments to the Constitution having also declared that "the 
powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, 
nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States re- 
spectively, or to the people," the . . . [Alien Act of June 22, 1798] 
. . . , which assumes power over alien friends not delegated by 
the Constitution, is not law, but is altogether void and of no force. 

V. Resolved, that in addition to the general principle as well 
as the express declaration, that powers not delegated are reserved, 
another and more special provision inserted in the Constitution 
from abundant- caution has declared, "that the migration or im- 
portation of such persons as any of the States now existing shall 
think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress 
prior to the year 1808." That this Commonwealth does admit 
the migration of alien friends described as the subject of the said 
act concerning aliens; that a provision against prohibiting their 
migration is a provision against all acts equivalent thereto, or it 
would be nugatory ; that to remove them when migrated is equiva- 
lent to a prohibition of their migration, and is therefore contrary 
to the said provision of the Constitution, and void. 

VI. Resolved, that the imprisonment of a person under the pro- 
tection of the laws of this Commonwealth on his failure to obey 
the simple order of the President to depart out of the United 
States, as is undertaken by the said act entitled "An act concern- 
ing aliens," is contrary to the Constitution, one amendment to 
which has provided, that "no person shall be deprived of liberty 
without due process of law," and that another having provided 
"that in all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the 
right to a public trial by an impartial jury, to be informed of the 
nature and cause of the accusation, to be confronted with the wit- 
nesses against him, to have compulsory process for obtaining 
witnesses in his favour, and to have the assistance of counsel for 
his defense," the same act undertaking to authorize the President 
to remove a person out of the United States who is under the 
protection of the law, on his own suspicion, without accusation. 



1798] KENTUCKY RESOLUTIONS 27 1 

without Jury, without pubhc trial, without confrontation of the 
witnesses against him, without having witnesses in his favour, 
without defense, without counsel, is contrary to these provisions 
also of the Constitution, is therefore not law, but utterly void and 
of no force. That transferring the power of judging any person 
who is under the protection of the laws, from the courts to the 
President of the United States, as is undertaken by the same act 
concerning aliens, is against the article of the Constitution which 
provides, that "the judicial power of the United States shall be 
vested in courts, the judges of which shall hold their offices during 
good behavior," and that the said act is void for that reason also; 
and it is further to be noted, that this transfer of judiciary power 
is to that magistrate of the general government who already pos- 
sesses all the executive, and a qualified negative in all the legis- 
lative powers. 

VII. Resolved, that the construction applied by the general 
government (as is evinced by sundry of their proceedings) to 
those parts of the Constitution of the United States which dele- 
gate to Congress a power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, 
and excises; to pay the debts, and provide for the common 
defense, and general welfare of the United States, and to make 
all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into exe- 
cution the powers vested by the Constitution in the government 
of the United States, or any department thereof, goes to the 
destruction of all the limits prescribed to their power by the Con- 
stitution : That words meant by that instrument to be subsiduary 
only to the execution of the limited powers ought not to be so 
construed as themselves to give unlimited powers, nor a part so 
to be taken as to destroy the whole residue of the instrument: 
That the proceedings of the general government under color of 
these articles will be a fit and necessary subject for revisal and 
correction at a time of greater tranquillity, while those specified 
in the preceding resolutions call for immediate redress. 

VIII. Resolved, that the preceding Resolutions be transmitted 
to the Senators and Representatives in Congress from this Com- 
monwealth, who are hereby enjoined to present the same to their 
respective Houses, and to use their best endeavors to procure, at 
the next session of Congress, a repeal of the aforesaid unconstitu- 
tional and obnoxious acts. 



272 KENTUCKY RESOLUTIONS [November 16 

IX. Resolved, lastly, that the Governor of this Commonwealth 
be, and is hereby authorized and requested to communicate the 
preceding Resolutions to the Legislatures of the several States, to 
assure them that this Commonwealth considers Union for specified 
National purposes, and particularly for those specified in their 
late Federal Compact, to be friendly to the peace, happiness, and 
prosperity of all the States: that faithful to that compact accord- 
ing to the plain intent and meaning in which it was understood 
and acceded to by the several parties, it is sincerely anxious for 
its preservation: that it does also believe, that to take from the 
States all the powers of self-government, and transfer them to a 
general and consolidated government, without regard to the 
special delegations and reservations solemnly agreed to in that 
compact, is not for the peace, happiness, or prosperity of these 
States: And that, therefore, this Commonwealth is determined, 
as it doubts not its co-States are, tamely to submit to undelegated 
and consequently unlimited powers in no man or body of men on 
earth : that if the acts before specified should stand, these conclu- 
sions would flow from them; that the general government may 
place any act they think proper on the list of crimes and punish it 
themselves, whether enumerated or not enumerated by the Con- 
stitution as cognizable by them: that they may transfer its cog- 
nizance to the President or any other person, who may himself be 
the accuser, counsel, judge, and jury, whose suspicions may be 
the evidence, his order the sentence, his officer the executioner, 
and his breast the sole record of the transaction: that a very 
numerous and valuable description of the inhabitants of these 
States being by this precedent reduced as outlaws to the absolute 
dominion of one man, and the barrier of the Constitution thus 
swept away from us all, no ram})art now remains against the pas- 
sions and the powers of a majority of Congress, to protect from a 
like exportation or other more grievous punishment the minority 
of the same body, the legislatures, judges, governors, and coun- 
selors of the States, nor their other peaceable inhabitants who may 
venture to reclaim the constitutional rights and liberties of the 
State and people, or who for other causes, good or bad, may be 
obnoxious to the views or marked by the suspicions of the Presi- 
dent, or be thought dangerous to his or their elections or other 
interests, public or personal: that the friendless alien has indeed 



1798] KENTUCKY RESOLUTIONS 273 

been selected as the safest subject of a first experiment, but the 
citizen will soon follow, or rather has already followed : for, 
already has a sedition act marked him as its prey: that these 
and successive acts of the same character, unless arrested on the 
threshold, may tend to drive these States into revolution and 
blood, and will furnish new calumnies against Republican govern- 
ments, and new pretexts for those who wish it to be believed, that 
man cannot be governed but by a rod of iron : that it would be a 
dangerous delusion were a confidence in the men of our choice to 
silence our fears for the safety of our rights: that confidence is 
everywhere the parent of despotism: free government is founded 
in jealousy and not in confidence; it is jealousy and not confi- 
dence which prescribes limited Constitutions to bind down those 
whom we are obliged to trust with power: that our Constitution 
has accordingly fixed the limits to which and no further our con- 
fidence may go; and let the honest advocate of confidence read 
the alien and sedition acts, and say if the Constitution has not 
been wise in fixing limits to the government it created, and 
whether we should be wise in destroying those limits; let him say 
what the government is if it be not a tyranny, which the men of 
our choice have conferred on the President, and the President of 
our choice has assented to and accepted over the friendly stran- 
gers, to whom the mild spirit of our country and its laws had 
pledged hospitality and protection: that the men of our choice 
have more respected the bare suspicions of the President than the 
soHd rights of innocence, the claims of justification, the sacred 
force of truth, and the forms and substance of law and justice. 
In questions of power then let no more be heard of confidence in 
man, but bind him down from mischief by the claims of the Con- 
stitution. That this Commonwealth does therefore call on its 
co-States for an expression of their sentiments on the acts con- 
cerning aliens, and for the punishment of certain crimes herein 
before specified, plainly declaring whether these acts are or are 
not authorized by the Federal Compact. And it doubts not that 
their sense will be so announced as to prove their attachment 
unaltered to limited government, whether general or particular, 
and that the rights and liberties of their co-States will be exposed 
to no dangers by remaining embarked on a common bottom with 
their own: That they will concur with this Commonwealth in 



274 VIRGINIA RESOLUTIONS [December 2^ 

considering the said acts so palpably against the Constitution as 
to amount to an undisguised declaration, that the compact is not 
meant to be the measure of the powers of the general government, 
but that it will proceed in the exercise over these States of all 
powers whatsoever: That they will view this as seizing the rights 
of the States and consolidating them in the hands of the general 
government with a power assumed to bind the States (not merely 
in cases made Federal) but in all cases whatsoever, by laws made, 
not with their consent, but by others against their consent : That 
this would be to surrender the form of government we have chosen, 
and to live under one deriving its powers from its own will, and 
not from our authority; and that the co-States, recurring to their 
natural right in cases not made Federal, will concur in declaring 
these acts void and of no force, and will each unite with this 
Commonwealth in requesting their repeal at the next session of 
Congress. 



No. 63. Virginia Resolutions 

December 24, 1798 

References. — Text in Madison's Writings (ed. 1865), IV., 506, 507, 
certified as a true copy of the original on file in the Virginia archives. 

Resolved, That the General Assembly of Virginia doth unequivo- 
cally express a firm resolution to maintain and defend the Con- 
stitution of the United States, and the Constitution of this State, 
against every aggression either foreign or domestic; and that 
they will support the Government of the United States in all 
measures warranted by the former. 

That this Assembly most solemnly declares a warm attachment 
to the Union of the States, to maintain which it pledges all its 
powers; and that, for this end, it is their duty to watch over and 
oppose every infraction of those principles which constitute the 
only basis of that Union, because a faithful observance of them 
can alone secure its existence and the public happiness. 

That this Assembly doth explicitly and peremptorily declare 
that it views the powers of the Federal Government as resulting 
from the compact to which the States are parties, as limited by 



1798] VIRGINIA RESOLUTIONS 275 

the plain sense and intention of the instrument constituting that 
compact; as no further vaHd than they are authorized by the 
grants enumerated in that compact; and that, in case of a deUber- 
ate, palpable, and dangerous exercise of other powers not granted 
by the said compact, the States, who are parties thereto, have the 
right and are in duty bound to interpose for arresting the progress 
of the evil, and for maintaining wdthin their respective limits the 
authorities, rights, and liberties appertaining to them. 

That the General Assembly doth also express its deep regret, 
that a spirit has in sundry instances been manifested by the 
Federal Government to enlarge its powers by forced construc- 
tions of the constitutional charter which defines them; and that 
indications have appeared of a design to expound certain gen- 
eral phrases (which, having been copied from the very limited 
grant of powers in the former Articles of Confederation, were the 
less liable to be misconstrued) so as to destroy the meaning and 
effect of the particular enumeration which necessarily explains 
and limits the general phrases; and so as to consolidate the 
States, by degrees, into one sovereignty, the obvious tendency 
and inevitable consequence of which would be to transform the 
present republican system of the United States into an absolute, 
or, at best, a mixed monarchy. 

That the General Assembly doth particularly protest against 
the palpable and alarming infractions of the Constitution in the 
two late cases of the "Alien and Sedition Acts," passed at the 
last session of Congress; the first of which exercises a power 
nowhere delegated to the Federal Government, and which, by 
uniting legislative and judicial powers to those of [the] executive, 
subvert the general principles of free government, as well as the 
particular organization and positive provisions of the Federal Con- 
stitution : and the other of which acts exercises, in like manner, 
a power not delegated by the Constitution, but, on the contrary, 
expressly and positively forbidden by one of the amendments 
thereto, — a power which, more than any other, ought to produce 
universal alarm, because it is levelled against the right of freely 
examining public characters and measures, and of free communi- 
cation among the people thereon, which has ever been justly 
deemed the only effectual guardian of every other right. 

That this State having by its Convention which ratified the 



276 KENTUCKY RESOLUTIONS [November 22 

Federal Constitution expressly declared that, among other essen- 
tial rights, "the lii^erty of conscience and of the press cannot be 
cancelled, abridged, restrained or modified by any authority of 
the United States," and from its extreme anxiety to guard these 
rights from every possible attack of sophistry or ambition, having, 
with other States, recommended an amendment for that purpose, 
which amendment was in due time annexed to the Constitution, 
— it would mark a reproachful inconsistency and criminal degen- 
eracy, if an indifference were now shown to the palpable violation 
of one of the rights thus declared and secured, and to the estab- 
lishment of a precedent which may be fatal to the other. 

That the good people of this Commonwealth, having ever felt 
and continuing to feel the most sincere affection for their brethren 
of the other States, the truest anxiety for establishing and per- 
petuating the union of all and the most scrupulous fidelity to that 
Constitution, which is the pledge of mutual friendship, and the in- 
strument of mutual happiness, the General Assembly doth solemnly 
appeal to the like dispositions of the other States, in confidence 
that they will concur with this Commonwealth in declaring, as it 
does hereby declare, that the acts aforesaid are unconstitutional; 
and that the necessary and proper measures will be taken by each 
for co-operating with this State, in maintaining unimpaired the 
authorities, rights, and liberties reserved to the States respectively, 
or to the people. 



No. 64. Kentucky Resolutions 

November 22, 1799 

References. — Text in Elliot's Debates (ed. 1836), IV., 570-572. Cor- 
rections of a number of obvious typographical errors are enclosed in square 
brackets. The formal endorsements at the end are omitted. 

The representatives of the good people of this Commonwealth, 
in General Assembly convened, having maturely considered the 
answers of sundry States in the Union, to their resolutions passed 



1799] KENTUCKY RESOLUTIONS 277 

the last session, respecting certain unconstitutional laws of Con- 
gress, commonly called the Alien and Sedition Laws, would be 
faithless, indeed, to themselves and to those they represent, were 
they silently to acquiesce in the principles and doctrines attempted 
to be maintained in all those answers, that of Virginia only excepted. 
To again enter the field of argument, and attempt more fully 
or forcibly to expose the unconstitutionality of those obnoxious 
laws, would, it is apprehended, be as unnecessary as unavailing. 
We cannot, however, but lament, that, in the discussion of those 
interesting subjects, by sundry of the Legislatures of our sister 
States, unfounded suggestions, and uncandid insinuations, deroga- 
tory to the true character and principles of this Commonwealth 
has been substituted in place of fair reasoning and sound argu- 
ment. Our opinions of these alarming measures of the General 
Government, together with our reasons for those opinions, were 
detailed with decency, and with temper, and submitted to the dis- 
cussion and judgment of our fellow-citizens throughout the Union. 
Whether the like decency and temper have been observed in the 
answers of most of those States, who have denied or attempted 
to obviate the great truths contained in those resolutions, we have 
now only to submit to a candid world. Faithful to the true prin- 
ciples of the federal Union, unconscious of any designs to disturb 
the harmony of that Union, and anxious only to escape the fangs 
of despotism, the good people of this Commonwealth are regard- 
less of censure or calumniation. Least [Lest], however, the silence 
of this Commonwealth should be construed into an acquiescence 
in the doctrines and principles advanced and attempted to be 
maintained by the said answers, or at least those of our fellow- 
citizens throughout the Union who so widely differ from us on 
those important subjects, should be deluded by the expectation, 
that we shall be deterred from what we conceive our duty, or shrink 
from the principles contained in those resolutions — therefore, 

Resolved, That this Commonwealth considers the Federal Union, 
upon the terms and for the purposes specified in the late compact, 
conducive to the liberty and happiness of the several States : That 
it does now unequivocally declare its attachment to the Union, 
and to that compact, agreeably to its obvious and real intention, 
and will be among the last to seek its dissolution: That if those 
who administer the General Government "be permitted to trans- 



278 KENTUCKY RESOLUTIONS [November 22 

gress the limits fixed by that compact, by a total disregard to the 
special delegations of power therein contained, an annihilation of 
the State Governments, and the creation upon their ruins of a 
General Consolidated Government, will be the inevitable conse- 
quence: That the principle and construction contended for by 
sundry of the state legislatures, that the General Government is 
the exclusive judge of the extent of the powers delegated to it, 
stop nothing [short] of despotism — since the discretion of those 
who administer the government, and not the Constitution, would 
be the measure of their powers: That the several states who 
formed that instrument being sovereign and independent, have 
the unquestionable right to judge of the infraction; and. That a 
Nullification by those sovereignties, of all unauthorized acts done 
tinder color of that instrument is the rightful remedy: That this 
Commonwealth does, under the most deliberate reconsideration, 
declare, that the said Alien and Sedition Laws are, in their opinion, 
palpable violations of the said Constitution; and, however cheer- 
fully it may be disposed to surrender its opinion to a majority 
of its sister states, in matters of ordinary or doubtful policy, yet, 
in no [omit] momentous regulations like the present, which so 
vitally wound the best rights of the citizen, it would consider a 
silent acquiescence as highly criminal: That although this com- 
monwealth, as a party to the federal compact, will bow to the 
laws of the Union, yet, it does, at the same [time] declare, that it 
will not now, or ever hereafter, cease to oppose in a constitutional 
manner, every attempt at what quarter soever offered, to violate 
that compact. And, finally, in order that no pretext or arguments 
may be drawn from a supposed acquiescence, on the part of this 
Commonwealth in the constitutionality of those laws, and be 
thereby used as precedents for similar future violations of the 
Federal compact — this Commonwealth does now enter against 
them its solemn PROTEST. 



1799] LOUISIANA PURCHASE 279 

No. 65. Treaty with France for the Cession 
of Louisiana 

April 30, 1803 

The region known as Louisiana belonged to France until 1762, when it was 
ceded to Spain. By the treaty of Paris in 1763, a portion of Louisiana east of 
the Mississippi was ceded to Great Britain, and in 1783 the eastern bank of 
the Mississippi as far south as the 31st parallel passed into the control of the 
United States. By the third article of the secret treaty of San Ildefonso, Oct. 

I, 1800, Spain agreed to cede Louisiana to France. October 16, 1802, the 
Spanish intendant of Louisiana by proclamation forbade citizens of the United 
States the further use of New Orleans "as a place of deposit for merchandise, 
and free transit for our ships down the river to the sea." An appropriation of 
$2,000,000 was made by Congress for the purchase of New Orleans. January 

II, 1803, Jefferson nominated Monroe as minister extraordinary to co-operate 
with Livingston, the minister to France, in negotiations for "a treaty or con- 
vention with the First Consul of France, for the purpose of enlarging, and 
more effectually securing, our rights and interests in the river Mississippi, and 
in the territories eastward thereof." The outcome of the negotiations was the 
purchase of Louisiana by the United States. A treaty and two conventions, 
dated April 30, 1803, were signed early in May. A special session of Con- 
gress was called for Oct. 17; on the 20th the Senate, by a vote of 24 to 7, 
ratified the treaty. The House declared in favor of the treaty on the 25th, 
by a vote of 90 to 25. 

References. — English and French text in U. S. Stat, at Large, VIIL, 
200-206. The message of Jan. 11, 1803, is in Amer. State Papers, Foreign 
Relations, II., 475; for the two conventions and diplomatic correspondence, 
ib., II., 508-583, or Annals, 7th Cong., 2d Sess., 1007-1210. The discus- 
sions in the House may be followed in the Annals, or in Benton's Abridgment, 
II. The best account of events is in Henry Adams's United States, L, chaps. 
13-17, II., chaps. 1-6. See also Jefferson's Works (ed. 1854), IV., 431-434, 
456-459, 498-501, and further correspondence in V., VII., and VIIL 

Article I. Whereas, by the article the third of the treaty 
concluded at St. Idelfonso, the gth Vendemiaire, an. 9 (ist 
October, 1800) between the First Consul of the French Republic 
and his Catholic Majesty, it was agreed as follows: "His 
Catholic Majesty promises and engages on his part, to cede to 
the French Republic, six months after the full and entire execu- 
tion of the conditions and stipulations herein relative to his 
royal highness the duke of Parma, the colony or province of 
Louisiana, with the same extent that it now has in the hands of 



28o LOUISIANA PURCHASE [April 30 

Spain, and that it had when France possessed it; and such as 
it should be after the treaties subsequently entered into between 
Spain and other states." And whereas, in pursuance of the 
treaty, and particularly of the third article, the French Re- 
public has an incontestible title to the domain and to the posses- 
sion of the said territory: The First Consul of the French 
Republic desiring to give to the United States a strong proof of 
his friendship, doth hereby cede to the said United States, in the 
name of the French Republic, forever and in full sovereignty, the 
said territory with all its rights and appurtenances, as fully and 
in the same manner as they have been acquired by the French 
Re})ublic, in virtue of the above-mentioned treaty, concluded with 
his Catholic Majesty. 

Art. II. In the cession made by the preceding article are 
included the adjacent islands belonging to Louisiana, all public 
lots and squares, vacant lands, and all public buildings, fortifi- 
cations, barracks, and other edifices which are not private prop- 
erty. — The archives, papers, and documents, relative to the 
domain and sovereignty of Louisiana, and its dependencies, will 
be left in the possession of the commissaries of the United States, 
and copies will be afterwards given in due form to the magis- 
trates and municipal officers, of such of the said papers and 
documents as may be necessary to them. 

Art. III. The inhabitants of the ceded territory shall be in- 
corporated in the Union of the United States, and admitted as 
soon as possible, according to the principles of the Federal con- 
stitution, to the enjoyment of all the rights, advantages and im- 
munities of citizens of the United States; and in the mean time 
they shall be maintained and protected in the free enjoyment of 
their liberty, property, and the religion which they profess. 

Art. V. Immediately after the ratification of the present 
treaty by the President of the United States, and in case that 
of the First Consul shall have been previously obtained, the 
commissary of the French Republic shall remit all the military 
posts of New Orleans, and other parts of the ceded territory, to 
the commissary or commissaries named by the President to take 
possession; the troops, whether of France or Spain, who may be 
there, shall cease to occupy any military post from the time of 



1803] LOUISIANA PURCHASE 281 

taking possession, and shall be embarked as soon as possible, 
in the course of three months after the ratification ' of this 
treaty. 

Art. VI. The United States promise to execute such treaties 
and articles as may have been agreed between Spain and the tribes 
and nations of Indians, until, by mutual consent of the United 
States and the said tribes or nations, other suitable articles shall 
have been agreed upon. 

Art. VII. As it is reciprocally advantageous to the commerce 
of France and the United States to encourage the communication 
of both nations for a limited time in the country ceded by the 
present treaty, until general arrangements relative to the com- 
merce of both nations may be agreed on ; it has been agreed be- 
tween the contracting parties, that the French ships coming 
directly from France or any of her colonies, loaded only with the 
produce and manufactures of France or her said colonies ; and the 
ships of Spain coming directly from Spain or any of her colonies, 
loaded only with the produce or manufactures of Spain or her 
colonies, shall be admitted during the space of twelve years in the 
ports of New Orleans, and in all other legal ports of entry within 
the ceded territory, in the same manner as the ships of the United 
States coming directly from France or Spain, or any of their 
colonies, without being subject to any other or greater duty on 
merchandize, or other or greater tonnage than that paid by the 
citizens of the United States. 

During the space of time above mentioned, no other nation 
shall have a right to the same privileges in the ports of the ceded 
territory : ... it is however well understood that the object of the 
above article is to favor the manufactures, commerce, freight and 
navigation of France and of Spain, so far as relates to the importa- 
tions that the French and Spanish shall make into the said ports of 
the United States, without in any sort affecting the regulations that 
the United States may make concerning the exportation of the 
produce and merchandize of the United States, or any right they 
may have to make such regulations. 

Art. VIII. In future and forever after the expiration of the 
twelve years, the ships of France shall be treated upon the footing 
of the most favored nations in the ports above mentioned. 

Art. IX. The particular convention signed this day by the 



282 EMBARGO ACT [December 22 

respective ministers/ having for its object to provide for the pay- 
ment of debts due to the citizens of the United States by the 
French Repubhc, prior to the 30th of September, 1800, (8th Ven- 
demiaire, an. 9,) is approved, and to have its execution in the 
same manner as if it had been inserted in this present treaty; 
and it shall be ratified in the same form and in the same time, 
so that the one shall not be ratified distinct from the other. 

Another particular convention ^ signed at the same date as the 
present treaty relative to a definitive rule between the contracting 
parties is in the like manner approved, and will be ratified in the 
same form, and in the same time, and jointly. 



No. 66. Embargo Act 

December 22, 1807 

The provisions in the treaty of 1794 with Great Britain relative to neutral 
commerce expired by limitation in 1806. April 18, 1806, Congress passed an 
act prohibiting the importation of certain articles from Great Britain and her 
colonies after Nov. 15 ; but Dec. 19 the act was suspended until July i, 1S07. 
Great Britain also refused to give up her asserted right of impressment, and 
on Oct. 16, 1807, a proclamation was issued "for recalling and prohibiting 
British seamen from serving foreign Princes and States." In a message of 
Dec. 18, 1807, transmitting a copy of this proclamation, Jefferson urged the 
attention of Congress to "the advantages which may be expected from an 
inhibition of the departure of our vessels from the ports of the United States." 
A bill for an embargo was at once introduced in the Senate, and passed that 
body the same day, by a vote of 22 to 6. On the 21st the bill with amend- 
ments passed the House, by a vote of 82 to 44; on the 22d the amendments 
were concurred in by the Senate, and the act was approved. An act of .'Vpril 
22, 1808, authorized the President to suspend the embargo acts in the event 
of peace or suspension of hostilities between the European belligerents. 

References. — Text in U. S. Stat, at Large, II., 451-453. For the dis- 
cussions in Congress, see the Annals, loth Cong., ist Sess., I., or Benton's 
Abridgment, III. Numerous documents relating to British depredations on 
American commerce during this period are in Amer. State Papers, Foreign 
Relations, III.: see particularly the royal proclamation of Oct. 16, 1807, ib., 
25, 26; report of the Secretary of State, March 2, 1808, on impressment of 

' Text in Treaties and Conventions (ed. i88q), 335-338. — Ed. 
^ Text in Treaties and Conventions (ed. i88q), 334, 335. — Ed. 
^ Signed : " Robert R. Livingstone, James Monroe, F. Barbe Marbois." — Ed. 



i8o7] EMBARGO ACT 283 

American seamen, ib., 36-79; and message of Dec. 28, 1808, transmitting 
orders and decrees of belligerent powers affecting neutral commerce since 
1791, ib., 262-294. For the various supplementary acts of Jan. 9, March 12, 
April 22, and April 25, 1808, and Jan. 9, 1809, see U. S. Stat, at Large, II., 
453, 454, 473-475, 490, 499-502, 506-511; for judicial decisions under the 
acts, ib., 451, 452. On the effect of the embargo, see Gallatin's annual report, 
Dec. 16, 1808, in Amer. State Papers, Finance, II., 307-309. Carey's Olive 
Branch (ed. 1815) collects numerous documents for this period. The best 
general account is in Adams's United States, IV. 

An ACT laying an Embargo on all ships and vessels in the ports 
and harbors of the United States. 

Be it enacted . . . , That an embargo be, and hereby is laid on 
all ships and vessels in the ports and places within the limits or 
jurisdiction of the United States, cleared or not cleared, bound to 
any foreign port or place; and that no clearance be furnished to 
any ship or vessel bound to such foreign port or place, except 
vessels under the immediate direction of the President of the 
United States: and that the President be authorized to give such 
instructions to the officers of the revenue, and of the navy and 
revenue cutters of the United States, as shall appear best adapted 
for carrying the same into full effect: Provided, that nothing 
herein contained shall be construed to prevent the departure of 
any foreign ship or vessel, either in ballast, or with the goods, 
wares and merchandise on board of such foreign ship or vessel, 
when notified of this act. 

Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That during the continuance 
of this act, no registered, or sea letter vessel, having on board 
goods, wares and merchandise, shall be allowed to depart from 
one port of the United States to any other within the same, unless 
the master, owner, consignee or factor of such vessel shall first 
give bond, with one or more sureties to the collector of the district 
from which she is bound to depart, in a sum of double the value 
of the vessel and cargo, that the said goods, wares, or merchandise 
shall be relanded in some port of the United States, dangers of 
the seas excepted, which bond, and also a certificate from the 
collector where the same may be relanded, shall by the collector 
respectively be transmitted to the Secretary of the Treasury. All 
armed vessels possessing public commissions from any foreign 
power, are not to be considered as liable to the embargo laid by 
this act. 



284 NON-INTERCOURSE ACT [March i 



No. 67. Non-Intercourse Act 

March i, 1809 

During the early part of the session of 1808-9 the Federalists made un- 
successful attempts to secure the repeal of the embargo acts. In spite of its 
ruinous effect on American commerce, the embargo was still regarded with 
favor, except in New England. In February, 1809, however, the statement 
of J. Q. Adams regarding the dangerous condition of public feeling in New 
England led the Republican leaders to modify their policy. February 8 Wm. 
B. Giles of Virginia submitted in the Senate a resolution for the repeal of the 
embargo after March 4, except as to Great Britain and France, and to pro- 
hibit commercial intercourse with those nations. February 14, by a vote of 
22 to 9, the resolution was agreed to, after an unsuccessful attempt, led by 
Bayard, to strike out the non-intercourse clause. A bill in conformity with 
the resolution was introduced on the i6th, and on the 21st passed the Senate 
by a vote of 21 to 12. A bill to the same effect had been introduced in the 
House Feb. 11, and was still under discussion; on the 22d, however, it was 
laid on the table, and the House took up the Senate bill in its place, finally 
passing it with amendments, on the 27th, by a vote of 81 to 40. The next 
day the Senate agreed to the House amendments, and March i the act was 
approved. 

References. — Text in U. S. Stat, at Large, II., 528-533. The proceed- 
ings of Congress are in the Journals, loth Cong., 2d Sess. ; for the discussions, 
including debates on the embargo and its enforcement, and British and French 
aggressions, see the Annals, or Benton's Abridgment, IV. A digest of deci- 
sions under the non-intercourse acts is in U. S. Stat, at Large, II., 528. 

An ACT to interdict the commercial intercourse between the United 
States and Great Britain and France, and their dependencies ; 
and for other purposes. 

Be it enacted . . . , That from and after the passing of this 
act, the entrance of the harbors and waters of the United States 
and of the territories thereof, be, and the same is hereby inter- 
dicted to all public ships and vessels belonging to Great Britain or 
France, excepting vessels only which may be forced in by distress, 
or which are charged with despatches or business from the govern- 
ment to which they belong, and also packets having no cargo nor 
merchandise on board. And if any public ship or vessel as afore- 
said, not being included in the exception above mentioned, shall 
enter any harbor or waters within the jurisdiction of the ITnited 
States, or of the territories thereof, it shall be lawful for the Presi- 



iSoq] non-intercourse act 285 

dent of the United States, or such other person as he shall have 
empowered for that purpose, to employ such part of the land and 
naval forces, or of the militia of the United States, or the territories 
thereof, as he shall deem necessary, to compel such ship or vessel 
to depart. 

Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That it shall not be lawful 
for any citizen or citizens of the United States or the territories 
thereof, nor for any person or persons residing or being in the 
same, to have any intercourse with, or to afford any aid or supplies 
to any public ship or vessel as aforesaid, which shall, contrary to 
the provisions of this act, have entered any harbor or waters 
within the jurisdiction of the United States or the territories 
thereof; and if any person shall, contrary to the provisions of 
this act, have any intercourse with such ship or vessel, or shall 
afford any aid to such ship or vessel, either in repairing the said 
vessel or in furnishing her, her officers and crew with supplies of 
any kind or in any manner whatever, or if any pilot or other per- 
son shall assist in navigating or piloting such ship or vessel, unless 
it be for the purpose of carrying her beyond the limits and juris- 
diction of the United States, every person so offending, shall for- 
feit and pay a sum not less than one hundred dollars, nor exceeding 
ten thousand dollars ; and shall also be imprisoned for a term not 
less than one month, nor more than one year. 

Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That from and after the 
twentieth day of May next, the entrance of the harbors and waters 
of the United States and the territories thereof be, and the same 
is hereby interdicted to all ships or vessels sailing under the flag 
of Great Britain or France, or owned in whole or in part by any 
citizen or subject of either; vessels hired, chartered or employed 
by the government of either country, for the sole purpose of car- 
rying letters or despatches, and also vessels forced in by distress 
or by the dangers of the sea, only excepted. And if any ship or 
vessel sailing under the flag of Great Britain or France, or owned 
in whole or in part by any citizen or subject of either, and not 
excepted as aforesaid, shall after the said twentieth day of May 
next, arrive either with or without a cargo, within the limits of the 
United States or of the territories thereof, such ship or vessel, to- 
gether with the cargo, if any, which may be found on board, shall 
be forfeited, and may be seized and condemned in any court of 



286 NON-INTERCOURSE ACT [March i 

the United States or the territories thereof, having competent 
jurisdiction, and all and every act and acts heretofore passed, 
which shall be within the purview of this act, shall be, and the 
same are hereby repealed. 

Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That from and after the 
twentieth day of May next, it shall not be lawful to import into 
the United States or the territories thereof, any goods, wares or 
merchandise whatever, from any port or place situated in Great 
Britain or Ireland, or in any of the colonies or dependencies of 
Great Britain, nor from any port or place situated in France, or 
in any of her colonies or dependencies, nor from any port or place 
in the actual possession of either Great Britain or France. Nor 
shall it be lawful to import into the United States, or the terri- 
tories thereof, from any foreign port or place whatever, any 
goods, wares or merchandise whate\'er, being of the growth, 
produce or manufacture of France, or of any of her colonies 
or dependencies, or being of the growth, produce or manufacture 
of Great Britain or Ireland, or of any of the colonies or depend- 
encies of Great Britain, or being of the growth, produce or manu- 
facture of any place or country in the actual possession of either 
France or Great Britain: Provided, that nothing herein con- 
tained shall be construed to affect the cargoes of ships or vessels 
wholly owned by a citizen or citizens of the United States, which 
had cleared for any port beyond the Cape of Good Hope, prior 
to . . . [December 22, 1807,] ... or which had departed for 
such port by permission of the President, under the acts supple- 
mentary to the act laying an embargo on all ships and vessels in 
the ports and harbors of the United States. 

Sec. II. And be it further enacted, That the President of the 
United States be, and he hereby is authorized, in case either 
France or Great Britain shall so revoke or modify her edicts, as 
that they shall cease to violate the neutral commerce of the United 
States, to declare the same by proclamation; after which the 
trade of the United States, suspended by this act, and by the 
. . . [Embargo Act] . . . and the several acts supplementary 
thereto, may be renewed with the nation so doing: ^ . . . 

Sec. 12. And be it further enacted. That so much of the . . . 

> See act of March 2, 181 1 {Stal. at Large, II., 651, 652). — Ed. 



1809] NON-INTERCOURSE ACT 287 

[Embargo Act] . . . and of the several acts supplementary thereto, 
as forbids the departure of vessels owned by citizens of the United 
States, and the exportation of domestic and foreign merchandise 
to any foreign port or place, be and the same is hereby repealed, 
after . . . [March 15, 1809,] . . . except so far as they relate to 
Great Britain or France, or their colonies or dependencies, or 
places in the actual possession of either. . . . 

Sec. 13. And be it further enacted, That during the continu- 
ance of so much of the . . . [Embargo Act], . . . and of the 
several acts supplementary thereto, as is not repealed by this act, 
no ship or vessel bound to a foreign port, with which commercial 
intercourse shall, by virtue of this act, be again permitted, shall 
be allowed to depart for such port, unless the owner or owners, 
consignee or factor of such ship or vessel shall, with the master, 
have given bond with one or more sureties to the United States, 
in a sum double the value of the vessel and cargo, if the vessel is 
wholly owned by a citizen or citizens of the United States; and 
in a sum four times the value, if the vessel is owned in part or in 
whole by any foreigner or foreigners, that the vessel shall not 
leave the port without a clearance, nor shall, when leaving the 
port, proceed to any port or place in Great Britain or France, or 
in the colonies or dependencies of either, or in the actual pos- 
session of either, nor be directly or indirectly engaged during the 
voyage in any trade with such port, nor shall put any article on 
board of any other vessel ; nor unless every other requisite and 
provision of the second section of the act, intituled "An act to 
enforce and make more effectual an act, intituled An act laying 
an embargo on all ships and vessels in the ports and harbors of 
the United States, and the several acts supplementary thereto," * 
shall have been complied with. . . . 

Sec. 14. And be it further enacted, That so much of the . . . 
[Embargo Act] . . . and of the several acts supplementary thereto, 
as compels vessels owned by citizens of the United States, bound 
to another port of the said States, or vessels licensed for the coasting 
trade, or boats, either not masted or not decked, to give bond, 
and to load under the inspection of a revenue officer, or renders 
them liable to detention, merely on account of the nature of their 
cargo, (such provisions excepted as relate to collection districts 

* Act of Jan. 9, 1809 {Stat, at Large, II., 506-511). — Ed. 



288 DECLARATION OF WAR , [June i8 

adjacent to the territories, colonies or provinces of a foreign 

nation, or to vessels belonging or bound to such districts) be, and 

the same is hereby repealed, from and after . . . [March 15, 

1809] . . . 

******** 

[Sec. 17 repeals act of April 18, 1806, and supplementary act, 

after May 20.] 

******** 

Sec. 19. And be it further enacted, That this act shall con- 
tinue and be in force until the end of the next session of Congress, 
and no longer; and that the act laying an embargo on all ships 
and vessels in the ports and harbors of the United States, and the 
several acts supplementary thereto, shall be, and the same are 
hereby repealed from and after the end of the next session of 
Congress. 



No. 68. Declaration of War 

June 18, 1812 

Madison's message of June i was referred in the House to the Committee 
on Foreign Relations. June 3 Calhoun reported from the committee a bill 
declaring war between the United States and Great Britain. The bill passed 
the House the following day by a vote of 79 to 49, after strong opposition. 
The bill with amendments was reported by a select committee of the Senate 
on the 8th; on the nth, by a vote of 17 to 13, it was recommitted. Several 
amendments were reported on the 12th, but were rejected by a tie vote; and 
by vote of 21 to 11 the first report of the committee, with amendments, was 
agreed to. Determined efforts were made to postpone or further amend the 
bill, but without success, and on the 17th the bill passed, by a vote of 19 to 13. 
On the 18th the House concurred in the Senate amendments, and on the 
same day the act was approved. A proclamation announcing the existence 
of war was issued June 19. 

References. — • Text in U. S. Stat, at Large, II., 755. For the proceed- 
ings, see the House and Senate Supplementary Journals, 12th Cong., ist Sess. 
The discussions are reported briefly in the Annals, and in Benton's Abridg- 
ment, IV. Calhoun's report is in Amer. State Papers, Foreign Relations, III., 
567-570. The Orders in Council were withdrawn June 16; for the announce- 
ment, June 23, see Annual Register, 1812, pp. 379-381. There is an analysis 
by States of the vote in the House, June 4, in McMaster's United States, III., 
457, 458. For the address of the Federalist minority to their constituents, see 
the Annals, 2196-2221. 



i8r2] TREATY OF GHENT 289 

An Act declaring War between the United Kingdom of Great Britain 
and Ireland and the dependencies thereof, and the United States 
of America and their territories. 

Be it enacted . . . , That war be and the same is hereby declared 
to exist between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland 
and the dependencies thereof, and the United States of America 
and their territories; and that the President of the United States 
is hereby authorized to use the whole land and naval force of the 
United States to carry the same into effect, and to issue to private 
armed vessels of the United States commissions or letters of marque 
and general reprisal, in such form as he shall think proper, and 
under the seal of the United States, against the vessels, goods, and 
effects of the government of the said United Kingdom of Great 
Britain and Ireland, and the subjects thereof. 



No. 69. Treaty of Ghent 

December 24, 1814 

The offer of the Emperor of Russia to mediate between Great Britain and 
the United States was accepted by the latter, and on April 15, 1813, instruc- 
tions were issued to commissioners. Great Britain, however, declined the 
offer of mediation, and suggested direct negotiation; the suggestion was ac- 
cepted, additional commissioners were appointed, and new instructions is- 
sued Jan. 28, 1814. The commissioners held their first conference at Ghent 
July II. The treaty was concluded Dec. 24; Feb. 17, 18 15, ratifications were 
exchanged at Washington. The conclusion of the treaty was announced to 
Congress Feb. 20. 

References. — Text in U. S. Stat, at Large, VIII., 218-223. The diplo- 
matic correspondence is in Amer. State Papers, Foreign Relations, III., 695- 
748; IV., 808-811. P'or dispatches and instructions of the British commis- 
sioners, see the Castlereagh Correspondence, series III., vol. II. The diary 
of J. Q. Adams during the negotiations is in his Memoirs, II., 603-662; III., 
3-144. Clay's letters are in Colton's Private Correspondence of Henry Clay, 
24-44; Gallatin's, in Adams's Writings of Gallatin, I., 545-647. See also 
Treaties and Conventions (ed. 1889), 1326-1328, notes on the treaty by J. C. 
B. Davis. 

Article the First. 

There shall be a firm and universal peace between His Britan- 
nic Majesty and the United States, and between their respective 
u 



290 TREATY OF GHENT [December 24 

countries, territories, cities, towns, and people, of every degree, 
without exception of places or persons. All hostilities, both by 
sea and land, shall cease as soon as this treaty shall have been 
ratified by both parties, as hereinafter mentioned. All territory, 
places, and possessions whatsoever, taken by either party from 
the other, during the war, or which may be taken after the sign- 
ing of this treaty, excepting only the islands hereinafter men- 
tioned, shall be restored without delay, and without causing any 
destruction, or carrying away any of the artillery or other public 
property originally captured in the said forts or places, and which 
shall remain therein upon the exchange of the ratifications of this 
treaty, or any slaves or other private property. And all archives, 
records, deeds, and papers, either of a public nature, or belong- 
ing to private persons, which, in the course of the war, may have 
fallen into the hands of the officers of either party, shall be, as 
far as may be practicable, forthwith restored and delivered to 
the proper authorities and persons to whom they respectively 
belong. Such of the islands in the Bay of Passamaquoddy as are 
claimed by both parties, shall remain in the possession of the 
party in whose occupation they may be at the time of the exchange 
of the ratifications of this treaty, until the decision respecting the 
title to the said islands shall have been made in conformity with 
the fourth article of this treaty. No disposition made by this 
treaty, as to such possession of the islands and territories claimed 
by both parties, shall, in any manner whatever, be construed to 

affect the right of either. 

******** 

Article the Fourth. 

Whereas it was stipulated by the second article in the treaty 
of peace ... [of 1783] . . . that the boundary of the United 
States should comprehend all islands within twenty leagues of any 
part of the shores of the United States, and lying between lines to 
be drawn due east from the points where the aforesaid boundaries, 
between Nova Scotia, on the one part, and East Florida on the 
other, shall respectively touch the Bay of Fundy, and the Atlantic 
ocean, excepting such islands as now are, or heretofore have been, 
within the limits of Nova Scotia; and whereas the several islands 
in the Bay of Passamaquoddy, which is part of the Bay of Fundy, 



z8i4] TREATY OF GHENT 29I 

and the island of Grand Menan in the said Bay of Fund/, are 
claimed by the United States as being comprehended within 
their aforesaid boundaries, which said islands are claimed as 
belonging to his Britannic Majesty, as having been at the time 
of, and previous to, the aforesaid treaty . . . , within the limits of 
the province of Nova-Scotia: In order, therefore, finally to decide 
upon these claims, it is agreed that they shall be referred to two 
commissioners to be appointed in the following manner, viz: 
one commissioner shall be appointed by his Britannic Majesty, 
and one by the president of the United States, by and with the 
advice and consent of the Senate thereof . , . [The commis- 
sioners to meet at St. Andrews, N. B. In case of disagreement, the 
matter to be referred to the decision of some friendly Power.^] 

Article the Fifth. 

Whereas neither that point of the high lands lying due north 
from the source of the river St. Croix, and designated in the 
former treaty of peace between the two powers as the northwest 
angle of Nova-Scotia, nor the northwesternmost head of Con- 
necticut river, has yet been ascertained; and whereas that part 
of the boundary line between the dominions of the two powers 
which extends from the source of the river St. Croix directly north 
to the abovementioned northwest angle of Nova-Scotia, thence 
along the said highlands which divide those rivers that empty 
themselves into the river St. Lawrence from those which fall 
into the Atlantic ocean to the northwesternmost head of Con- 
necticut river, thence down along the middle of that river to the 
forty-fifth degree of north latitude; thence by a line due west on 
said latitude until it strikes the river Iroquois or Cataraguy, has 
not yet been surveyed : it is agreed, that for these several purposes 
two commissioners shall be appointed, sworn, and authorized to 
act exactly in the manner directed with respect to those mentioned 
in the next preceding article, unless otherwise specified in the pres- 
ent article. [The commissioners to meet at St. Andrews, N. B. 
Boundary to be surveyed and marked. In case of disagreement, 
the matter to be referred to the decision of some friendly Power, as 
in Art. IV.] 

* For the declaration and decision of the commissioners under this article 
Nov. 24, 1 81 7, see TAiaties and Conventions (ed. 1889), 405, 406. — Ed. 



292 TREATY OF GHENT [December 24 



Article the Sixth. 

Whereas, by the former treaty of peace that portion of the boun- 
dary of the United States from the point where the forty-fifth 
degree of north latitude strikes the river Iroquois or Cataraguy 
to the lake Superior, was declared to be "along the middle of 
said river into lake Ontario, through the middle of said lake 
until it strikes the communication by water between that lake and 
lake Erie, thence along the middle of said communication into 
lake Erie, through the middle of said lake until it arrives at the 
water communication into the lake Huron, thence through the 
middle of said lake to the water communication between that 
lake and lake Superior." And whereas doubts have arisen what 
was the middle of the said river, lakes and water communica- 
tions, and whether certain islands lying in the same were within 
the dominions of his Britannic majesty or of the United States: 
In order, therefore, finally to decide these doubts, they shall be 
referred to two commissioners, to be appointed, sworn, and 
authorized to act exactly in the manner directed with respect 
to those mentioned in the next preceding article, unless other- 
wise specified in this present article. [The commissioners to 
meet at Albany. Boundary to be designated. In case of dis- 
agreement, the matter to be referred to the decision of some friendly 
power, as in Art. IV. ^] 

Article the Seventh. 

[The commissioners provided for in Art. VI. to determine the 
boundary between Lakes Huron and Superior and the Lake of the 
Woods. In case of disagreement, the matter to be referred to 
the decision of some friendly Power, as in Art. IV.] 

******** 

Article the Ninth. 

The United States of America engage to put an end, immedi- 
ately after the ratification of the present treaty, to hostilities with 
all the tribes or nations of Indians with whom they may be at war 

> For the decision of the commissioners under this article, June 22, 1822, see 
Treaties and Conventions (ed. 1889), 407-409. — Ed. « 



i8i4] REPORT OF THE HARTFORD CONVENTION 293 

at the time of such ratification; and forthwith to restore to such 
tribes or nations, respectively, all the possessions, rights, and 
privileges, which they may have enjoyed or been entitled to in 
. . . [181 1] . . . , previous to such hostilities: Provided always^ 
That such tribes or nations shall agree to desist from all hostilities, 
against the United States of America, their citizens and subjects, 
upon the ratification of the present treaty being notified to such 
tribes or nations, and shall so desist accordingly. And his Britan- 
nic Majesty engages, on his part, to put an end immediately after 
the ratification of the present treaty, to hostilities with all the tribes 
or nations of Indians with whom he may be at war at the time of 
such ratification, and forthwith to restore to such tribes or nations, 
respectively, all the possessions, rights, and privileges, which they 
may have enjoyed or been entitled to, in . . . [181 1] . . . , 
previous to such hostilities: Provided always, that such tribes or 
nations shall agree to desist from all hostilities against his Britan- 
nic majesty, and his subjects, upon the ratification of the present 
treaty being notified to such tribes or nations, and shall so desist 
accordingly. 

Article the Tenth. 

Whereas the traffic in slaves is irreconcileable with the prin- 
ciples of humanity and justice, and whereas both his Majesty 
and the United States are desirous of continuing their efforts to 
promote its entire abolition, it is hereby agreed that both the con- 
tracting parties shall use their best endeavors to accomplish so 
desirable an object. 



No. 70. Report of the Hartford Convention 

January 4, 1815 

Early in 1814 many towns in Massachusetts presented memorials to the 
legislature, setting forth the dangers to which the war with Great Britain ex- 
posed them, and suggesting the appointment of delegates, "to meet delegates 
from such other States as might think proper to appoint them, for the purpose 

' Signed: "Gambier, Henry Goulburn, William Adams, John Quincy Adams, 
J. A. Bayard, H. Clay, Jona. Russell, Albert Gallatin." — Ed. 



294 REPORT OF THE HARTFORD CONVENTION [Jan. 4 

of devising proper measures to procure the united efforts of the commercial 
states, to obtain such amendments and explanations of the constitution as will 
secure them from further evils" (Dwight). The matter was favorably con- 
sidered by the legislature, and Oct. 18 twelve delegates were elected in a joint 
session of the two houses, by a vote of 226 to 67. The action of Massachu- 
setts was followed by the election of seven delegates by the legislature of Con- 
necticut, which already had under consideration suggestions of a similar 
nature, and of four delegates by the legislature of Rhode Island. The dele- 
gates thus chosen, together with two from New Hampshire and one from 
Vermont, representing local conventions in those States, met at Hartford Dec. 
15, and remained in session until Jan. 5, 181 5. The proceedings of the 
convention were secret, but the report, from which an extract follows, was 
published and widely circulated. The legislatures of Massachusetts and 
Connecticut sent commissioners to Washington to urge the submission of the 
amendments to the Constitution suggested by the convention; but the war 
had ended before they arrived, and their recommendations were disregarded. 
The injunction of secrecy laid upon the members of the convention, and the 
failure to make public the journal, led to the impression that the proceedings 
were of a treasonable nature, and had in view a dissolution of the Union. 

References. — - Text in Dwight's History of the Hartford Convention 
(ed. 1833), 352-379; the extract here given is on pp. 368-379. The report 
is also in Niles's Register, VII., 305-313, where are also, pp. 328-332, com- 
mercial and financial statistics published by order of the convention. The 
journal is also in Dwight, op. cit., 383-398. R. M. Sherman's account of the 
convention is in Niles's Register, XXXIX., 434, 435; see also ib., VII., 185- 
1S9, i93-i97> 257. 258, 321-326, 337. 33^> 369-371. a series of articles hostile 
to the convention. 

[After severe general criticism of the Administration, and of 
the pohcy by which "this remote country, once so happy and so 
envied," is now "involved in a ruinous war, and excluded from 
intercourse with the rest of the world," the report continues:] 

To investigate and explain the means whereby this fatal reverse 
has been effected, would require a voluminous discussion. Noth- 
ing more can be attempted in this report than a general allusion to 
the principal outlines of the policy which has produced this vicis- 
situde. Among these may be enumerated — 

First. — A deliberate and extensive system for efifecting a com- 
bination among certain states, by exciting local jealousies and 
ambition, so as to secure to popular leaders in one section of the 
Union, the controul of public affairs in perpetual succession. To 
which primary object most other characteristics of the system may 
be reconciled. 

Secondly. — The political intolerance displayed and avo\\Ted in 



1815] REPORT OF THE HARTFORD CONVENTION 295 

excluding from office men of unexceptionable merit, for want of 
adherence to the executive creed. 

Thirdly. — The infraction of the judiciary authority and rights, 
by depriving judges of their offices in violation of the constitu- 
tion. 

Fourthly. — The abolition of existing taxes, requisite to prepare 
the country for those changes to which nations are always ex- 
posed, with a view to the acquisition of popular favour. 

Fifthly. — The influence of patronage in the distribution of 
offices, which in these states has been almost invariably made 
among men the least entitled to such distinction, and who have 
sold themselves as ready instruments for distracting public opin- 
ion, and encouraging administration to hold in contempt the 
wishes and remonstrances of a people thus apparently divided. 

Sixthly. — The admission of new states into the Union formed 
at pleasure in the western region, has destroyed the balance of 
power which existed among the original States, and deeply affected 
their interest. 

Seventhly. — The easy admission of naturalized foreigners, to 
places of trust, honour or profit, operating as an inducement to 
the malcontent subjects of the old world to come to these States, 
in quest of executive patronage, and to repay it by an abject de- 
votion to executive measures. 

Eighthly. — Hostility to Great Britain, and partiality to the late 
government of France, adopted as coincident with popular preju- 
dice, and subservient to the main object, party power. Connected 
with these must be ranked erroneous and distorted estimates of 
the power and resources of those nations, of the probable results 
of their controversies, and of our political relations to them re- 
spectively. 

Lastly and principally. — A visionary and superficial theory in 
regard to commerce, accompanied by a real hatred but a feigned 
regard to its interests, and a ruinous perseverance in eiTorts to 
render it an instrument of coercion and war. 

But it is not conceivable that the obHquity of any administra- 
tion could, in so short a period, have so nearly consummated the 
work of national ruin, unless favoured by defects in the constitu- 
tion. 

To enumerate all the improvements of which that instrument 's 



296 REPORT OF THE HARTFORD CONVENTION [Jan. 4 

susceptible, and to propose such amendments as might render it in 
all respects perfect, would be a task which this convention has 
not thought proper to assume. They have confined their atten- 
tion to such as experience has demonstrated to be essential, and 
even among these, some are considered entitled to a more serious 
attention than others. They are suggested without any intentional 
disrespect to other states, and are meant to be such as all shall find 
an interest in promoting. Their object is to strengthen, and if 
possible to perpetuate, the union of the states, by removing the 
grounds of existing- jealousies, and providing for a fair and equal 
representation, and a limitation of powers, which have been mis- 
used. 

The first amendment proposed, relates to the apportionment of 
representatives among the slave holding states. This cannot be 
claimed as a right. Those states are entitled to the slave represen- 
tation, by a constitutional compact. It is therefore merely a 
subject of agreement, which should be conducted upon principles 
of mutual interest and accommodation, and upon which no sensi- 
bility on either side should be permitted to exist. It has proved 
unjust and unequal in its operation. Had this effect been fore- 
seen, the privilege would probably not have been demanded; 
certainly not conceded. Its tendency in future will be adverse to 
that harmony and mutual confidence which are more conducive 
to the happiness and prosperity of every confederated state, than 
a mere preponderance of power, the prolific source of jealousies 
and controversy, can be to any one of them. The time may 
therefore arrive, when a sense of magnanimity and justice will 
reconcile those states to acquiesce in a revision of this article, 
especially as a fair equivalent would result to them in the appor- 
tionment of taxes. 

The next amendment relates to the admission of new states into 
the Union. 

This amendment is deemed to be highly important, and in fact 
indispensable. In proposing it, it is not intended to recognize 
the right of Congress to admit new states without the original 
limits of the United States, nor is any idea entertained of disturb- 
ing the tranquillity of any state already admitted into the Union. 
The object is merely to restrain the constitutional power of Con- 
gress in admitting new states. At the adoption of the constitution, 



1815] REPORT OF THE HARTFORD CONVENTION 297 

a certain balance of power among the original parties was consid- 
ered to exist, and there was at that time, and yet is among those 
parties, a strong afi&nity between their great and general interests. 
— By the admission of these states that balance has been materi- 
ally affected, and unless the practice be modified, must ultimately 
be destroyed. The southern states will first avail themselves of 
their new confederates to govern the east, and finally the western 
states, multiplied in number, and augmented in population, will 
control the interests of the whole. Thus for the sake of present 
power, the southern states will be common sufferers with the east, 
in the loss of permanent advantages. None of the old states can 
find an interest in creating prematurely an overwhelming western 
influence, which may hereafter discern (as it has heretofore) bene- 
fits to be derived to them by wars and commercial restrictions. 

The next amendments proposed by the convention, relate to 
the powers of Congress, in relation to embargo and the interdic- 
tion of commerce. 

Whatever theories upon the subject of commerce have hitherto 
divided the opinions of statesmen, experience has at last shown 
that it is a vital interest in the United States, and that its success 
is essential to the encouragement of agriculture and manufactures, 
and to the wealth, finances, defence, and liberty of the nation. 
Its welfare can never interfere with the other great interests of the 
state, but must promote and uphold them. Still those who are 
immediately concerned in the prosecution of commerce, will of 
necessity be always a minority of the nation. They are, however, 
best qualified to manage and direct its course by the advantages 
of experience, and the sense of interest. But they are entirely 
unable to protect themselves against the sudden and injudicious 
decisions of bare majorities, and the mistaken or oppressive proj- 
ects of those who are not actively concerned in its pursuits. Of 
consequence, this interest is always exposed to be harassed, inter- 
rupted, and entirely destroyed, upon pretence of securing other 
interests. Had the merchants of this nation been permitted by 
their own government to pursue an innocent and lawful commerce, 
how different would have been the state of the treasury and of 
public credit ! How short-sighted and miserable is the policy 
which has annihilated this order of men, and doomed their ships 
to rot in the docks, their capital to waste unemployed, and their 



298 REPORT OF THE HARTFORD CONVENTION [Jan. 4 

affections to be alienated from the government which was formed 
to protect them ! What security for an ample and unfailing reve- 
nue can ever be had, comparable to that which once was realized 
in the good faith, punctuality, and sense of honour, which attached 
the mercantile class to the interests of the government ! Without 
commerce, where can be found the aliment for a navy ; and with- 
out a navy, what is to constitute the defence, and ornament, and 
glory of this nation ! No union can be durably cemented, in 
which every great interest does not find itself reasonably secured 
against the encroachment and combinations of other interests. 
When, therefore, the past system of embargoes and commercial 
restrictions shall have been reviewed — when the fluctuation and 
inconsistency of public measures, betraying a want of information 
as well as feeling in the majority, shall have been considered, 
the reasonableness of some restrictions upon the power of a 
bare majority to repeat these oppressions, will appear to be obvi- 
ous. 

The next amendment proposes to restrict the power of making 
offensive war. In the consideration of this amendment, it is not 
necessary to inquire into the justice of the present war. But one 
sentiment now exists in relation to its expediency, and regret for 
its declaration is nearly universal. No indemnity can ever be 
attained for this terrible calamity, and its only palliation must be 
found in obstacles to its future recurrence. Rarely can the state 
of this country call for or justify offensive war. The genius of 
our institutions is unfavourable to its successful prosecution; the 
felicity of our situation exempts us from its necessity. In this 
case, as in the former, those more immediately exposed to its 
fatal effects are a minority of the nation. The commercial towns, 
the shores of our seas and rivers, contain the population whose 
vital interests are most vulnerable by a foreign enemy. Agricul- 
ture, indeed, must feel at last, but this appeal to its sensibility 
comes too late. Again, the immense population which has 
swarmed into the west, remote from immediate danger, and which 
is constantly augmenting, will not be averse from the occasional 
disturbances of the Atlantic states. Thus interest may not unfre- 
quently combine with passion and intrigue, to plunge the nation 
into needless wars, and compel it to become a military, rather 
than a happy and flourishing people. These considerations, which 



i8i5J REPORT OF THE HARTFORD CONVENTION 299 

it would be easy to augment, call loudly for the limitation pro- 
posed in the amendment. 

Another amendment, subordinate in importance, but still in a 
high degree expedient, relates to the exclusion of foreigners here- 
after arriving in the United States from the capacity of holding 
offices of trust, honour, or profit. 

That the stock of population already in these states is amply 
sufficient to render this nation in due time sufficiently great and 
powerful, is not a controvertible question. Nor will it be seriously 
pretended, that the national deficiency in wisdom, arts, science, 
arms, or virtue, needs to be replenished from foreign countries. 
Still, it is agreed, that a liberal policy should offer the rights of 
hospitality, and the choice of settlement, to those who are disposed 
to visit the country. But why admit to a participation in the 
government aliens who were no parties to the compact — who are 
ignorant of the nature of our institutions, and have no stake in 
the welfare of the country but what is recent and transitory? It 
is surely a privilege sufficient, to admit them after due probation 
to become citizens, for all but political purposes. To extend it 
beyond these limits, is to encourage foreigners to come to these 
states as candidates for preferment. The Convention forbear to 
express their opinion upon the inauspicious effects which have 
already resulted to the honour and peace of this nation, from this 
misplaced and indiscriminate liberality. 

The last amendment respects the limitation of the office of 
President to a single constitutional term, and his eligibility from 
the same state two terms in succession. 

Upon this topic it is superfluous to dilate. The love of power 
is a principle in the human heart which too often impels to the 
use of all practicable means to prolong its duration. The office 
of President has charms and attractions which operate as power- 
ful incentives to this passion. The first and most natural exertion 
of a vast patronage is directed towards the security of a new elec- 
tion. The interest of the country, the welfare of the people, even 
honest fame and respect for the opinion of posterity, are secondary 
considerations. All the engines of intrigue, all the means of cor- 
ruption are likely to be employed for this object. A President 
whose political career is limited to a single election, may find no 
other interest than will be promoted by making it glorious to him- 



300 REPORT OF THE HARTFORD CONVENTION [Jan. 4 

self, and beneficial to his country. But the hope of re-election is 
prolific of temptations, under which these magnanimous motives 
are deprived of their principal force. The repeated election of 
the President of the United States from any one state, affords 
inducements and means for intrigues, which tend to create an 
undue local influence, and to establish the domination of particu- 
lar states. The justice, therefore, of securing to every state a fair 
and equal chance for the election of this officer from its own 
citizens is apparent, and this object will be essentially promoted 
by preventing an election from the same state twice in succession. 

******** 
Therefore resolved, 

That it be and hereby is recommended to the legislatures of 
the several states represented in this Convention, to adopt all such 
measures as may be necessary effectually to protect the citizens of 
said states from the operation and effects of all acts which have 
been or may be passed by the Congress of the United States, 
which shall contain provisions, subjecting the militia or other citi- 
zens to forcible drafts, conscriptions, or impressments, not author- 
ised by the constitution of the United States. 

Resolved, That it be and hereby is recommended to the said 
Legislatures, to authorize an immediate and earnest application 
to be made to the government of the United States, requesting 
their consent to some arrangement, whereby the said states may, 
separately or in concert, be empowered to assume upon them- 
selves the defence of their territory against the enemy; and a 
reasonable portion of the taxes, collected within said States, may 
be paid into the respective treasuries thereof, and appropriated to 
the payment of the balance due said states, and to the future 
defence of the same. The amount so paid into the said treasuries 
to be credited, and the disbursements made as aforesaid to be 
charged to the United States. 

Resolved, That it be, and hereby is, recommended to the legis- 
latures of the aforesaid states, to pass laws (where it has not 
already been done) authorizing the governors or commanders-in- 
chief of their militia to make detachments from the same, or to 
form voluntary corps, as shall be most convenient and conform- 
able to their constitutions, and to cause the same to be well armed, 
equipped, and disciplined, and held in readiness for service; and 



1815] REPORT OF THE HARTFORD CONVENTION 301 

upon the request of the governor of either of the other states to 
employ the whole of such detachment or corps, as well as the 
regular forces of the state, or such part thereof as may be re- 
quired and can be spared consistently with the safety of the state, 
in assisting the state, making such request to repel any invasion 
thereof which shall be made or attempted by the public enemy. 

Resolved, That the following amendments of the constitution of 
the United States be recommended to the states represented as 
aforesaid, to be proposed by them for adoption by the state legis- 
latures, and in such cases as may be deemed expedient by a con- 
vention chosen by the people of each state. 

And it is further recommended, that the said states shall perse- 
vere in their efforts to obtain such amendments, until the same 
shall be effected. 

First. Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned 
among the several states which may be included within this Union, 
according to their respective numbers of free persons, including 
those bound to serve for a term of years, and excluding Indians 
not taxed, and all other persons. 

Second. No new state shall be admitted into the Union by 
Congress, in virtue of the power granted by the constitution, with- 
out the concurrence of two thirds of both houses. 

Third. Congress shall not have power to lay any embargo on 
the ships or vessels of the citizens of the United States, in the 
ports or harbours thereof, for more than sixty days. 

Fourth. Congress shall not have power, without the concur- 
rence of two thirds of both houses, to interdict the commercial 
intercourse between the United States and any foreign nation, or 
the dependencies thereof. 

Fifth. Congress shall not make or declare war, or authorize 
acts of hostility against any foreign nation, without the concur- 
rence of two thirds of both houses, except such acts of hostility be 
in defence of the territories of the United States when actually 
invaded. 

Sixth. No person who shall hereafter be naturalized, shall be 
eligible as a member of the senate or house of representatives of 
the United States, nor capable of holding any civil office under 
the authority of the United States. 

Seventh. The same person shall not be elected president of 



302 ACT FOR A NATIONAL BANK [April lo 

the United States a second time ; nor shall the president be elected 
from the same state two terms in succession. 

******** 



No. 71. Act for a National Bank 

April 10, 1816 

The charter of the first bank of the United States expired in 181 1, and the 
effort to renew it was unsuccessful. A bill to incorporate a bank was vetoed 
by Madison Jan. 30, 1815. In his annual message, Dec. 5, 1815, Madison 
urged the necessity of an uniform national currency, and suggested a national 
bank. In the House this part of the message was referred to a select com- 
mittee, of which Calhoun was chairman, and Jan. 8, 1816, Calhoun reported 
a bill to incorporate the subscribers to the Bank of the United States. The 
bill was not taken up until Feb. 26; it was then considered at nearly every 
session until March 14, when it passed by a vote of 80 to 71. The bill with 
amendments passed the Senate April 3, by a vote of 22 to 12. April 5 the 
House concurred in the Senate amendments; on the loth the act was ap- 
proved. Only the significant portions of the act are here given. 

References. — ■ Text in U. S. Stai. at Large, III., 266-277. For the pro- 
ceedings see the House and Senate Journals, 14th Cong., ist Sess. ; for the 
discussions see the Annals, or Benton's Abridgment, V. The speeches of 
Calhoun, Clay, and Webster (the latter against the bank) are of especial im- 
portance. The letter of Dallas, Secretary of theTreasury, to Calhoun, outlin- 
ing a plan for a national bank, is in A7ner. State Papers, Finance, III., 57-61 ; 
the act followed in the main Dallas's suggestions. The veto message of Jan. 
30, 1815, with the text of the bill, is in Amer. State Papers, Finance, II., 891- 
895; Spencer's report in the House, Jan. 16, 1819, on the conduct of the 
bank, ib., III., 306-391 ; the petition of the bank for changes in its charter, 
Jan. 12, 1821, ib.. III., 586-594. The definitive history is Catterall's Second 
Bank of the United States. On the constitutionahty of a national bank 
the leading case is McCulloch v. Maryland, 4 Wheaton, 316-437. Most of 
the discussion over the bank belongs to a later period. 

An Ad to incorporate the subscribers to the Bank of the United States. 
Be it enacted . . . , That a bank of the United States of America 
shall be established, with a capital of thirty-five millions of dollars, 
divided into three hundred and fifty thousand shares, of one hun- 
dred dollars each share. Seventy thousand shares, amounting 
to the sum of seven millions of dollars, part of the capital of the 
said bank, shall be subscribed and paid for by the United States, 
in the manner hereinafter specified ; and two hundred and eighty 



i8i6] ACT FOR A NATIONAL BANK 303 

thousand shares, amounting to the sum of twenty-eight millions of 
dollars, shall be subscribed and paid for by individuals, companies, 
or corporations, in the manner hereinafter specified. . . . 

Sec. 8. And be it further enacted, That for the management 
of the affairs of the said corporation, there shall be twenty-five 
directors, five of whom, being stockholders, shall be annually 
appointed by the President of the United States, by and with the 
advice and consent of the Senate, not mere than three of whom 
shall be residents of any one state; and twenty of whom shall be 
annually elected at the banking house in the city of Philadelphia, 
on the first Monday of January, in each year, by the qualified 
stockholders of the capital of the said bank, other than the United 
States, and by a plurality of votes then and there actually given, 
according to the scale of voting hereinafter prescribed : Provided 
always, That no person, being a director in the bank of the United 
States, or any of its branches, shall be a director of any other 
bank ... 

Sec. 9. And be it further enacted, . . . And the President 
of the United States is hereby authorized, during the present ses- 
sion of Congress, to nominate, and, by and with the advice and 
consent of the Senate, to appoint, five directors of the said bank, 
though not stockholders, any thing in the provisions of this act to 
the contrary notwithstanding . . . 

Sec. II. And be it further enacted, That the following rules, 
restrictions, limitations, and provisions, shall form and be funda- 
mental articles of the constitution of the said corporation, to wit: 

Eighth. The total amount of debts which the said corporation 
shall at any time owe, whether by bond, bill, note, or other con- 
tract, over and above the debt or debts due for money deposited 
in the bank, shall not exceed the sum of thirty-five millions of dol- 
lars, unless the contracting of any greater debt shall have been 
previously authorized by law of the United States. . . . 

Ninth. The said corporation shall not, directly or indirectly, 
deal or trade in any thing except bills of exchange, gold or silver 
bullion, or in the sale of goods really and truly pledged for money 
lent and not redeemed in due time, or goods which shall be the 
proceeds of its lands. It shall not be at liberty to purchase any 



304 ACT FOR A NATIONAL BANK [April 10 

public debt whatsoever, nor shall it take more than at the rate of 
six per centum per annum for or upon its loans or discounts. 

Tenth. No loan shall be made by the said corporation, for the 
use or on account of the government of the United States, to an 
amount exceeding five hundred thousand dollars, or of any particu- 
lar state, to an amount exceeding fifty thousand dollars, or of any 
foreign prince or state, unless previously authorized by a law of the 
United States. 

Fourteenth. The directors of the said corporation shall est;ib- 
lish a competent office of discount and deposit in the District of 
Columbia, whenever any law of the United States shall require 
such an establishment; also one such office of discount and de- 
posit in any state in which two thousand shares shall have been 
subscribed or may be held, whenever, upon application of the 
legislature of such state, Congress may, by law, recjuire the same : 
. . . And it shall be lawful for the directors of the said cor[)oration 
to establish offices of discount and deposit, wheresoever they shall 
think fit, within the United States or the territories thereof, and 
to commit the management of the said offices, and the business 
thereof, respectively to such persons, and under such regulations 
as they shall deem proper, not being contrary to law or the con- 
stitution of the bank. Or instead of establishing such offices, it 
shall be lawful for the directors of the said corporation, from time 
to time, to employ any other bank or banks, to be first approved 
by the Secretary of the Treasury, at any place or places that they 
may deem safe and proper, to manage and transact the business 
proposed as aforesaid, other than for the purposes of discount, to be 
managed and transacted by such offices, under such agreements, 
and subject to such regulations, as they shall deem just and 
proper. . . . 

Fifteenth. The officer at the head of the Treasury Department 
of the United States shall be furnished, from time to time, as often 
as he may require, not exceeding once a week, with statements 
of the amount of the capital stock of the said corporation and of 
the debts due to the same; of the moneys deposited therein; of 
the notes in circulation, and of the specie in hand; and shall have 
a right to inspect such general accounts in the books of the bank 
as shall relate to the said statement : Provided, That this shall not 



i8i6] ACT FOR A NATIONAL BANK 305 

be construed to imply a right of inspecting the account of anj 
private individual or individuals with the bank. . . . 

Sec. 14. And be ii further enacted, That the bills or notes of 
the said corporation originally made payable, or which shall have 
become payable on demand, shall be receivable in all payments 
to the United States, unless otherwise directed by act of Congress. 

Sec. 15. And be it further enacted, That during the continu- 
ance of this act, and whenever required by the Secretary of the 
Treasury, the said corporation shall give the necessary facilities 
for transferring the public funds from place to place, within the 
United States, or the territories thereof, and for distributing the 
same in payment of the public creditors, without charging com- 
missions or claiming allowance on account of difference of exchange, 
and shall also do and perform the several and respective duties of 
the commissioners of loans for the several states, or of any one 
or more of them, whenever required by law. 

Sec. 16. And be it further enacted, That the deposits of the 
money of the United States, in places in which the said bank and 
branches thereof may be established, shall be made in said bank 
or branches thereof, unless the Secretary of the Treasury shall at 
any time otherwise order and direct; in which case the Secretary 
of the Treasury shall immediately lay before Congress, if in ses- 
sion, and if not, immediately after the commencement of the next 
session, the reasons of such order or direction. 

Sec. 17. And be it further enacted, That the said corporation 
shall not at any time suspend or refuse payment in gold and 
silver, of any of its notes, bills or obligations; nor of any moneys 
received upon deposit in said bank, or in any of its offices of dis- 
count and deposit. . . . 

Sec. 20. And be it further enacted. That in consideration of 
the exclusive privileges and benefits conferred by this act, upon 
the said bank, the president, directors, and company thereof, 
shall pay to the United States, out of the corporate funds thereof, 
the sum of one million and five hundred thousand dollars, in three 
equal payments; that is to say: five hundred thousand dollars at 
the expiration of two years; five hundred thousand dollars at the 
expiration of three years; and five hundred thousand dollars at the 
expiration of four years after the said bank shall be organized, and 
commence its operations in the manner herein before provided. 



3o6 TREATY WITH SPAIN FOR THE FLORIDAS [Feb. 22 

Sec. 21. And be it further enacted, That no other bank shall 
be established by any future law of the United States during the 
continuance of the corporation hereby created, for which the faith 
of the United States is hereby pledged . . . [except in the Dis- 
trict of Columbia]. . . . 

******** 



No. 72. Treaty with Spain for the Floridas 

February 22, 1819 

Partly because of disputes regarding claims, and partly because of the 
establishment by the United States of a customs district which included Mo- 
bile, the King of Spain refused to ratify the treaty of 1802. Efforts to adjust 
the diiTerences between the two countries failed, and in 1808 diplomatic 
relations were broken off. October 27, 1810, Madison by proclamation 
directed Claiborne, governor of Orleans Territory, to take possession of West 
Florida for the United States, and secret acts of Jan. 15 and March 3, 1811, 
authorized the President to take temporary possession of East Florida. Dip- 
lomatic relations were resumed in 1815, and a long correspondence followed, 
ending in the treaty of Feb. 22, 1819. The treaty was not ratified by Spain 
until Oct. 24, 1820, and was again ratified by the Senate Feb. 19, 1821. An 
act of March 3, 1821, authorized the President to take possession of East and 
West Florida in accordance with the treaty. 

References. — English and Spanish text in U. S. at Large, VIII., 252- 
264. The diplomatic correspondence is in Amer. State Papers, Foreign Re- 
lations, IV., v., and Annals, 15th Cong., 2d Sess., II., appendix. For im- 
portant contemporary views, see J. Q. Adams's Memoirs, IV., V.; Benton's 
Thirty Years' View, I., chap. 6 ; II., chaps. 42, 155; Clay's speech on the 
treaty, in his Life and Speeches (ed. 1844), I., 392-404; and various letters 
of Gallatin, in his Writings (Adams's ed.), II. See also Wharton's Intern. 
Law Digest (ed. 1S87), II., 277-287; Donaldson's Public Domain, 108-120 
(H. Misc. Doc, 47th Cong., 2d Sess., vol. 19). 

******** 



Article 1. 

There shall be a firm and inviolable peace and sincere friend- 
ship between the United States and their citizens, and his Catholic 
Majesty, his successors and subjects, without exception of persons 
or places. 



:8i9] TREATY WITH SPAIN FOR THE FLORIDAS 307 



Article 2. 

His Catholic Majesty cedes to the United States, in full property 
and sovereignty, all the territories which belong to him, situated 
to the eastward of the Mississippi, known by the name of East and 
West Florida. . . . 

Article 3. 

The boundary line between the two countries, west of the Mis- 
sissippi, shall begin on the Gulph of Mexico, at the mouth of 
the river Sabine, in the sea, continuing north, along the western 
bank of that river, to the 3 2d degree of latitude; thence, by a line 
due north, to the degree of latitude where it strikes the Rio Roxo 
of Nachitoches, or Red River; then following the course of the 
Rio Roxo westward, to the degree of longitude 100 west from 
London and 23 from Washington; then, crossing the said Red 
River, and running thence, by a line due north, to the river Ar- 
kansas; thence, following the course of the southern bank of 
the Arkansas, to its source, in latitude 42 north; and thence, by 
that parallel of latitude, to the South Sea. The whole being as 
laid down in Melish's map of the United States, published at 
Philadelphia, improved to the first of January, 1818. But, if the 
source of the Arkansas river shall be found to fall north or south 
of latitude 42, then the line shall run from the said source due 
south or north, as the case may be, till it meets the said parallel 
of latitude 42, and thence, along the said parallel, to the South 
Sea : All the islands in the Sabine, and the said Red and Arkansas 
rivers, throughout the course thus described, to belong to the 
United States; but the use of the waters, and the navigation of 
the Sabine to the sea, and of the said rivers Roxo and Arkansas, 
throughout the extent of the said boundary, on their respective 
banks, shall be common to the respective inhabitants of both 
nations. 

******** 

Article 5. 

The inhabitants of the ceded territories shall be secured in the 
free exercise of their religion, without any restriction; and all 



3o8 TREATY WITH SPAIN FOR THE FLORIDAS [Feb. 22 

those who may desire to remove to the Spanish dominions, shall 
be permitted to sell or export their effects, at any time whatever, 
without being subject, in either case, to duties. 

Article 6. 

The inhabitants of the territories which his Catholic Majesty 
cedes to the United States^ by this Treaty, shall be incorporated 
in the Union of the United States, as soon as may be consistent 
with the principles of the Federal Constitution, and admitted to 
the enjoyment of all the privileges, rights, and immunities, of the 
citizens of the United States. 

Article 8. 

[Grants of land prior to Jan, 24, 18 18, to be ratified and con- 
firmed; all subsequent grants to be null and void.] 

Article 9. 

The two high contracting parties, animated with the most earnest 
desire of conciliation, and with the object of putting an end to all 
the differences which have existed between them, and of confirming 
the good understanding which they wish to be forever maintained 
between them, reciprocally renounce all claims for damages or 
injuries which they, themselves, as well as their respective citizens 
and subjects, may have suffered until the time of signing this 
Treaty. 

The renunciation of the United States will extend to all the 
injuries mentioned in the Convention of the nth of August, 1802. 

2. To all claims on account of prizes made by French priva- 
teers, and condemned by French consuls, within the territory and 
jurisdiction of Spain. 

3. To all claims of indemnities on account of the suspension 
of the right of deposit at New-Orleans, in 1802. 

4. To all claims of citizens of the United States upon the govern- 
ment of Spain, arising from the unlawful seizures at sea, and in 
the ports and territories of Spain, or the Spanish colonies. 

5. To all claims of citizens of the United States upon the Span- 
ish government, statements of which, soliciting the interposi- 
tion of the government of the United States, have been presented 



i8i9J TREATY WITH SPAIN FOR THE FLORIDAS 309 

to the Department of State, or to the Minister of the United States 
in Spain, since the date of the Convention of 1802, and until the 
signature of this Treaty. 
The renunciation of his Catholic Majesty extends: 

1. To all the injuries mentioned in the Convention of the nth 
of August, 1802. 

2. To the sums which his Catholic Majesty advanced for the 
return of Captain Pike from the Provincias Internas. 

3. To all injuries caused by the expedition of Miranda, that 
was fitted out and equipped at New-York. 

4. To all claims of Spanish subjects upon the government of 
the United States, arising from unlawful seizures at sea, or within 
the ports and territorial jurisdiction of the United States. 

Finally, to all the claims of subjects of his Catholic Majesty 
upon the government of the United States, in which the interposi- 
tion of his Catholic Majesty's government has been solicited, 
before the date of this Treaty, and since the date of the Convention 
of 1802, or which may have been made to the Department of 
Foreign Affairs of his Majesty, or to his Minister in the United 
States. 

And the high contracting parties, respectively, renounce all 
claim to indemnities for any of the recent events or transactions 
of their respective commanders and officers in the Floridas. 

The United States will cause satisfaction to be made for the 
injuries, if any, which, by process of law, shall be established to 
have been suffered by the Spanish officers, and individual Spanish 
inhabitants, by the later operations of the American army in 
Florida.* 

Article 10. 

The Convention entered into between the two governments, on 
the nth of August, 1802, the ratifications of which were exchanged 
the 2ist December, 18 18, is annulled. 

Article ii. 

The United States, exonerating Spain from all demands in future, 
on account of the claims of their citizens to which the renun- 

* The act of March 3, 1823, to carry into effect Art. IX., is in U. S. Slat, at 
Large, III., 768. — Ed. 



3IO TREATY WITH SPAIN FOR THE FLORID AS [Feb. 22 

ciations herein contained extend, and considering them entirely 
cancelled, undertake to make satisfaction for the same, to an 
amount not exceeding five millions of dollars. . . .^ 

Article 12. 

The Treaty of Limits and Navigation, of 1795, remains con- 
firmed in all, and each one of, its articles, excepting the 2, 3, 4, 21, 
and the second clause of the 2 2d article, which, having been 
altered by this Treaty, or having received their entire execution, 
are no longer valid. 

With respect to the 15th article of the same Treaty of Friendship, 
Limits, and Navigation, of 1795, in which it is stipulated that the 
flag shall cover the property, the two high contracting parties 
agree that this shall be so understood with respect to those powers 
who recognise this principle; but, if either of the two contracdng 
parties shall be at war with a third party, and the other neutral, 
the flag of the neutral shall cover the property of enemies whose 
government acknowledge this principle, and not of others. 

Article 14. 

The United States hereby certify that they have not received 
any compensation from France, for the injuries they suffered from 
her privateers, consuls, and tribunals, on the coasts and in the 
ports of Spain, for the satisfaction of which provision is made by 
this treaty; and they will present an authentic statement of the 
prizes made, and of their true value,' that Spain may avail herself 
of the same, in such manner as she may deem just and proper. 

Article 15. 

The United States, to give to his Catholic Majesty a proof of 
their desire to cement the relations of amity subsisting between 
the two nations, and to favour the commerce of the subjects of 
his Catholic Majesty, agree that Spanish vessels, coming laden 

• A commission under this article was provided for by act of March 3, 1821 
(U. S. Stat, at Large, III., 637-630). A stock to provide for the payment of 
claims was created by act of May 24, 1824 {U. S. Stat, at Large, IV., 33, 34). 
— Ed. 



1819] MISSOURI COMPROMISE 311 

only with productions of Spanish growth or manufactures, directly 
from the ports of Spain, or of her colonies, shall be admitted, 
for the term of twelve years, to the ports of Pensacola and St. 
Augustine, in the Floridas^ without paying other or higher duties 
on their cargoes, or of tonnage, than will be paid by the vessels 
of the United States. During the said term, no other nation shall 
enjoy the same privileges within the ceded territories. The twelve 
years shall commence three months after the exchange of the 
ratifications of this treaty. 



Missouri Compromise 
1820-21 

The Territory of Missouri, originally a part of the Louisiana purchase, was 
organized by act of June 4, 181 2. January 8, Feb. 2, and March 16, 1818, 
memorials were presented in the House praying for the admission of the Ter- 
ritory as a State. An enabling act was reported April 3, but there was no 
further action during the session. December 18, 1818, a memorial of the 
Missouri legislature, praying for admission as a State, was presented, and 
Feb. 13, 1819, the House took up the enabling act of the previous session. 
An amendment offered by Tallmadge, of New York, restricting the further 
extension of slavery in the new State, gave rise to much discussion, but was 
finally- agreed to on the i6th, by two votes of 87 to 76 and 82 to 78, and on 
the 17th the bill passed the House. The Senate, Feb. 27, by votes of 31 to 7 
and 22 to 16, struck out the Tallmadge amendment, and on March 2 passed 
the bill with amendments. The House refused to concur, and the bill was 
lost. The issue was now joined on the status of slavery in Missouri. A num- 
ber of northern legislatures passed resolutions endorsing the Tallmadge propo- 
sition, and a large number of petitions to the same effect were transmitted to 
Congress. In the i6th Congress, which met Dec. 6, 1819, the admission of 
Alabama restored the balance between free and slave States. In the mean- 
time, the people of the District of Maine had held a convention and drafted a 
State constitution, and on Dec. 8 the memorial of the convention, praying 
admission as a State, was presented to Congress. A bill for the admission of 
Maine was reported in the House Dec. 21, and passed Jan. 3, 1820. A bill 
to the same effect had been reported in the Senate Dec. 22, but on the receipt 
of the House bill further consideration was postponed. In the Senate the 
Maine bill was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, which reported 
amendments in the form of a "rider" providing for the admission of Missouri, 
without prohibition of slavery. The bill as amended was taken up Jan. 13, 

' Signed: " John Quincy Adams, Luis de Onis." — Ed. 



312 MISSOURI COMPROMISE [1820 

and discussed until Feb. 16, when, by a vote of 23 to 21, the report of the 
committee was concurred in. February 3, in the course of the discussion, 
Senator Thomas of Illinois submitted an amendment prohibiting slavery in 
the territory acquired from France north of the line of 36° 30', except Mis- 
souri; the amendment was withdrawn on the 7th, however, and offered again 
on the i6th; on the 17th, by a vote of 34 to 10, it was adopted. On the 18th 
the Maine bill, as thus amended, passed the Senate. 

In the meantime, the House also had been considering the Missouri ques- 
tion. December 8 the Missouri memorials presented in the previous session 
had been referred to a select committee, which reported an enabling act on 
the following day. The bill was taken up Jan. 25, and debated until Feb. 18. 
On the 23d, so much of the Senate amendments as comprised the Missouri 
enabling act was disagreed to, by a vote of 93 to 72, and the Thomas amend- 
ment was rejected by a vote of 159 to 18. On the 28th the House again in- 
sisted on its disagreement to the Senate amendments, the votes being 97 to 
76 on the Missouri portions, and 160 to 14 on the Thomas clause. The con- 
sideration of the Missouri bill was meanwhile continued. On the 26th an 
amendment to the same effect as the Thomas amendment in the Senate was 
rejected, and on the 29th an amendment otTered by Taylor, of New York, pro- 
hibiting slavery in Missouri, was concurred in by a vote of 94 to 86; March 
I, bv a vote of 91 to 82, the bill passed the House. In the Senate the clause 
prohibiting slavery was stricken out, and the Thomas amendment inserted. 
A compromise was effected by a conference committee; the Maine and ISIis- 
souri bills were passed separately, and slavery was permitted in Missouri, but 
prohibited in the remainder of the Louisiana purchase north of 36° 30'. The 
act for the admission of Maine was approved March 3, and the act authoriz- 
ing Missouri to form a state go\-ernment was approved March 6. 

The constitution under which Missouri applied for admission contained a 
clause forbidding free negroes to enter the State. The constitution was trans- 
mitted to Congress at the beginning of the session, November, 1820. A reso- 
lution to admit Missouri as a State was reported in the Senate Nov. 20, taken 
up Dec. 4, and debated until the 12th, when it was passed. In the House 
the resolution was laid on the table until Jan. 15, 1S21, when it was taken up 
and debated until Feb. 2, without any agreement being reached; it was then, 
on motion of Clay, referred to a select committee of thirteen. The report of 
the committee, on the loth, recommended amendments similar to those after- 
wards agreed upon. On the 12th, after agreeing to the report, the third read- 
ing was refused by a vote of 80 to 83; the ne.xt day a motion to reconsider 
was carried, loi to 66, but, by a vote of 82 to 88, the third reading was again 
refused. On the 22d Clay proposed the election of a joint committee to con- 
sider and report on the advisability of admitting Missouri; this was agreed to 
by a vote of lor to 55, and on the following day the committee was chosen. 
The Senate, in the meantime, had rejected several propositions for admission, 
but agreed to the plan of a joint committee by a vote of 29 to 7. The report 
of the committee, in the terms of the resolution as later passed, was agreed to 
by the House Feb. 26, by a vote of 87 to 81 ; the Senate agreed to the report 
on the 28th, by a vote of 28 to 14; March 2 the resolution was approved. 
The condition imposed by the resolution was accepted by the legislature of 



i82o] TAYLOR'S AMENDMENT 313 

Missouri June 26, 1821, and a proclamation of Aug. 10 announced the admis- 
sion of Missouri as a State. 

The ext.-acts following relate chiefly to the question of slavery as involved 
in the compromises. 

References. — Accompanying each of the following e.xtracts is an indi- 
cation of the source from which it is drawn. The act for the admission of 
Maine is in U. S. Stat, at Large, III., 544; the act authorizing Missouri to 
form a State constitution, ib., III., 545-548. The constitution of 1820 is in 
Poore's Federal and State Constitutions, II., 1104-1117, and Niles's Register, 
XIX., 50-57. The proceedings of Congress may be followed in the House 
and Senate Journals, i6th Cong., ist and 2d Scss.; full reports of the debates 
are in the Annals; Benton's Abridgment, VI., VII.; Niles's Register, XVII., 
XVIII., XIX. The nature and effect of the compromise were much discussed 
in the debates on the compromise measures of 1850 and the Kansas-Nebraska 
act of 1854. 



No. 73. Tallmadge's Amendment 

February 13, 1819 

A nd provided, That the further introduction of slavery or invol- 
untary servitude be prohibited, except for the punishment of 
crimes, whereof the party shall have been fully [duly] convicted; 
and that all children born within the said State, after the admis- 
sion thereof into the Union, shall be free at the age of twenty-five 
years. 

[Annals, 15th Cong., 2d Sess., 11 70.) 



No. 74. Taylor's Amendment 

January 26, 1820 

The reading of the bill proceeded as far as the fourth section; 
when 

Mr. Taylor, of New York, proposed to amend the bill by in- 
corporating in that section the following provision : 

Section 4, line 25, insert the following after the word "States": 
"And shall ordain and establish, that there shall be neither slavery 
nor involuntary servitude in the said State, otherwise than in the 
punishment of crimes, whereof the party shall have been duly con- 



314 MISSOURI COMPROMISE [1820 

victed : Provided, always, That any person escaping into the same, 
from whom labor or service is lawfully claimed in any other State, 
such fugitive may be lawfully reclaimed, and conveyed to the per- 
son claiming his or her labor or service as aforesaid: And pro- 
vided, also. That the said provision shall not be construed to alter 
the condition or civil rights of any person now held to service or 
labor in the said Territory." 

[Annals, i6th Cong., ist Sess., 947.] 



No. 75. Thomas's Amendment (final form) 

February 17, 1820 

And he it further enacted. That, in all that territory ceded by 
France to the United States, under the name of Louisiana, which 
lies north of thirty-six degrees and thirty minutes north latitude, 
excepting only such part thereof as is included within the limits of 
the State contemplated by this act, slavery and involuntary servi- 
tude, otherwise than in the punishment of crimes w^hereof the 
party shall have been duly convicted, shall be and is hereby for- 
ever prohibited: Provided always, That any person escaping into 
the same, from whom labor or service is lawfully claimed in any 
State or Territory of the United States, such fugitive may be law- 
fully reclaimed, and conveyed to the person claiming his or her 
labor or service, as aforesaid. 

\_Annals, i6th Cong., ist Sess., 427, 428.] 



No. 76. Report of the Conference Committee 

March i, 1820 
[House of Representatives] 

Mr. Holmes . . . made the following report : 

1. That they recommend to the Senate to recede from their 
amendments to the said bill. 

2. That they recommend to the two Houses to agree to strike 
out [of] the fourth section of the bill from the House of Repre- 



i82o] MISSOURI ENABLING ACT 315 

sentatives, now pending in the Senate, entitled "An act to au- 
thorize the people of Missouri to form a constitution and State 
government, and for the admission of such State into the Union 
on an equal footing with the original States," the following proviso 
in the following words: [here follows the Taylor amendment.] 

And that the following provision be added to the bill: [here 
follows the Thomas amendment.] 

[Annals, i6th Cong., ist Sess., 1576, 1577.] 



No. 77. Missouri Enabling Act 

March 6, 1820 

An Act to authorize the people of the Missouri territory to form a 
constitution and state government, and for the admission of such 
state into the Union on an equal footing with the original states, 
and to prohibit slavery in certain territories. 

Be it enacted . . . , That the inhabitants of that portion of the 
Missouri territory included within the boundaries hereinafter 
designated, be, and they are hereby, authorized to form for 
themselves a constitution and state government, and to assume 
such name as they shall deem proper; and the said state, when 
formed, shall be admitted into the Union, upon an equal footing 
with the original states, in all respects whatsoever. 

Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That the said state shall con- 
sist of all the territory included within the following boundaries, 
to wit: Beginning in the middle of the Mississippi river, on the 
parallel of thirty-six degrees of north latitude ; thence west, along 
that parallel of latitude, to the St. Francois river; thence up, and 
following the course of that river, in the middle of the main chan- 
nel thereof, to the parallel of latitude of thirty-six degrees and 
thirty minutes; thence west, along the same, to a point where the 
said parallel is intersected by a meridian line passing through the 
middle of the mouth of the Kansas river, where the same empties 
into the Missouri river, thence, from the point aforesaid north, 
along the said meridian line, to the intersection of the parallel of 
latitude which passes through the rapids of the river Des Moines, 



3l6 MISSOURI COMPROMISE [July 19 

making the said line to correspond with the Indian boundary line ; 
thence east, from the point of intersection last aforesaid, along 
the said parallel of latitude, to the middle of the channel of the 
main fork of the said river Des Moines; thence down and along 
the middle of the main channel of the said river Des Moines, to 
the mouth of the same, where it empties into the Mississippi river; 
thence, due east, to the middle of the main channel of the Missis- 
sippi river; thence down, and following the course of the Mississippi 
river, in the middle of the main channel thereof, to the place of 
beginning: . . . 

Sec. 8. And be ii further enacted, That in all that territory 
ceded by France to the United States, under the name of Louisi- 
ana, which lies north of thirty-six degrees and thirty minutes 
north latitude, not included within the limits of the state, con- 
templated by this act, slavery and involuntary servitude, otherwise 
than in the punishment of crimes, whereof the parties shall have 
been duly convicted, shall be, and is hereby, forever prohibited: 
Provided always, That any person escaping into the same, from 
whom labour or service is lawfully claimed, in any state or territory 
of the United States, such fugitive may be lawfully reclaimed and 
conveyed to the person claiming his or her labour or service as 
aforesaid. 

[U. S. Stat, at Large, III., 545, 546, 548.] 



No. 78. Constitution of Missouri 

July 19, 1820 

[Art. III.] Sec. 26. The general assembly shall not have 
power to pass laws — 

1. For the emancipation of slaves without the consent of their 
owners; or without paying them, before such emancipation, a full 
equivalent for such slaves so emancipated; and, 

2. To prevent bona-fide immigrants to this State, or actual set- 
tlers therein, from bringing from any of the United States, or from 
any of their Territories, such persons as may there be deemed to 



i82o] ADMISSION OF MISSOURI 317 

be slaves, so long as any persons of the same description are 
allowed to be held as slaves by the laws of this State. 
They shall have power to pass laws — 

1. To prohibit the introduction into this State of any slaves 
who may have committed any high crime in any other State or 
Territory ; 

2. To prohibit the introduction of any slave for the purpose of 
speculation, or as an article of trade or merchandise ; 

3. To prohibit the introduction of any slave, or the offspring of 
any slave, who heretofore may have been, or who hereafter may be, 
imported from any foreign country into the United States, or any 
Territory thereof, in contravention of any existing statute of the 
United States; and, 

4. To permit the owners of slaves to emancipate them, saving 
the right of creditors, where the person so emancipating will give 
security that the slave so emancipated shall not become a public 
charge. 

It shall be their duty, as soon as may be, to pass such laws as 
may be necessary — 

1. To prevent free negroes end [and] mulattoes from coming 
to and settling in this State, under any pretext whatsoever ; and, 

2. To oblige the owners of slaves to treat them with humanity, 
and to abstain from all injuries to them extending to life or limb. 

[Poore, Federal and State Constitutions (ed. 1877), II., 1107, 1108.] 



No. 79. Resolution for the Admission of 
Missouri 

March 2, 1821 

Resolution providing for the admission of the State of Missouri 

into the Union, on a certain condition. 

Resolved . . . , That Missouri shall be admitted into this union 
on an equal footing with the original states, in all respects what- 
ever, upon the fundamental condition, that the fourth clause of 
the twenty-sixth section of the third article of the constitution 
submitted on the part of said state to Congress, shall never be 
construed to authorize the passage of any law, and that no law 



3l8 MONROE DOCTRINE [Dec. 2 

shall be passed in conformity thereto, by which any citizen, of 
either of the states in this Union, shall be excluded from the 
enjoyment of any of the privileges and immunities to which such 
citizen is entitled under the constitution of the United States: 
Provided, That the legislature of the said state, by a solemn pub- 
lic act, shall declare the assent of the said state to the said fun- 
damental condition, and shall transmit to the President of the 
United States, on or before the fourth Monday in November 
next, an authentic copy of the said act ; upon the receipt whereof, 
the President, by proclamation, shall announce the fact; where- 
upon, and without any further proceeding on the part of Congress, 
the admission of the said state into this Union shall be considered 
as complete. 

[U.S. Stat, at Large, III., 645.] 



No. 80. Monroe's Message enunciating the 
Monroe Doctrine 

December 2, 1823 

The triumph of Napoleon in Spain in 1808 was followed by a succession 
of revolts in the Spanish colonies in America, and by 1821 all the colonies 
had established revolutionary governments. In 1823 France, with the sanc- 
tion of the so-called Holy Alliance, had restored Ferdinand VII. of Spain to 
his throne ; and later in the year another meeting of the allies was suggested 
to consider the question of aiding Spain to reduce its colonies to submission. 
In the meantime, in September, 182 1, a Russian ukase had asserted the claim 
of that country to all the Pacific coast of North America north of the 51st 
parallel, and forbidden foreigners to trade in the region. The claim of Rus- 
sia was opposed by both Great Britain and the United States. A proposal 
from Great Britain, in September, 1823, "that the two countries should 
unite in a declaration against European intervention in the colonies," was, 
however, declined. In his annual message of Dec. 2, 1823, Monroe, in dis- 
cussing the relations of the United States with Russia, Spain, and the Spanish- 
American colonies, stated the policy which afterwards came to be known as 
the Monroe doctrine. The principal portions of the message dealing with 
the subject are given in the e.xtracts following. 

References. — Text of the message in House and Senate Journals, i8th 
Cong., ist Sess.; the extracts here given are from the Senate Journal, 11, 
21-23. ^^ ^h^ origin of the statements in the message, see J. Q. Adams's 
Memoirs, VI.; Madison's Writings (ed. 1865), III., 339, 340; Jefferson's 
Works (cd. 1854), VII., 315-317. Correspondence relating to the Russian 



1823] MONROE DOCTRINE 319 

treaty of 1824 is in Amer. Stat' Papers, Foreign Relations, V., 434-471; the 
correspondence with Spain, ib., V., 368-428, throws light on the condition of 
the colonies. The policy stated by Monroe had been frequently enunciated, 
though less definitely, before 1823; interesting extracts, from 1787 onwards, 
are collected in Amer. History Leaflets, No. 4. The leading discussions of 
the Monroe doctrine are Oilman's Monroe, chap. 7 (with valuable bibliog- 
raphy, Appendix IV.); G. F. Tucker's Monroe Doctrine; Wharton's Intern. 
Law Digest (ed. 1887), I., 268-298; Snow's American Diplomacy, 237-294. 

At the proposal of the Russian imperial government, made 
through the minister of the Emperor residing here, a full power and 
instructions have been transmitted to the Minister of the United 
States at St. Petersburgh, to arrange, by amicable negotiation, the 
respective rights and interests of the two nations on the northwest 
coast of this continent. A similar proposal had been made by his 
Imperial Majesty to the government of Great Britain, which has 
likewise been acceded to. . . . In the discussions to which this 
interest has given rise, and in the arrangements by which they may 
terminate, the occasion has been judged proper for asserting, as a 
principle in which the rights and interests of the United States are 
involved, that the American continents, by the free and indepen- 
dent condition which they have assumed and maintain, are hence- 
forth not to be considered as subjects for future colonization by 
any European powers. 

It was stated at the commencement of the last session, that a 
great effort was then making in Spain and Portugal, to improve 
the condition of the people of those countries, and that it ap- 
peared to be conducted with extraordinary moderation. It need 
scarcely be remarked, that the result has been, so far, very differ- 
ent from what was then anticipated. Of events in that quarter 
of the globe, with which we have so much intercourse, and from 
which we derive our origin, we have always been anxious and in- 
terested spectators. The citizens of the United States cherish 
sentiments the most friendly, in favor of the liberty and happiness 
of their fellow men on that side of the Atlantic. In the wars of 
the European powers, in matters relating to themselves, we have 
never taken any part, nor does it comport with our policy so to 
do. It is only when our rights are invaded, or seriously menaced, 
that we resent injuries, or make preparation for our defence. 
With the movements in this hemisphere, we are, of necessity, 



320 JACKSON'S FIRST MESSAGE [Dec. 8 

more imme'diately connected, and by causes which must be obvi- 
ous to all enlightened and impartial observers. The political sys- 
tem of the allied powers is essentially different, in this respect, 
from that of America. This difference proceeds from that which 
exists in their respective governments. And to the defence of 
our own, which has been achieved by the loss of so much blood 
and treasure, and matured by the wisdom of their most enlightened 
citizens, and under which we have enjoyed unexampled felicity, 
this whole nation is devoted. We owe it, therefore, to candor, 
and to the amicable relations existing between the United States 
and those powers, to declare, that we should consider any attempt 
on their part to extend their system to any portion of this hemi- 
sphere, as dangerous to our peace and safety. With the existing 
colonies or dependencies of any European power, we have not 
interfered, and shall not interfere. But with the governments 
who have declared their independence, and maintained it, and 
whose independence we have, on great consideration, and on just 
principles, acknowledged, we could not view any interposition for 
the purpose of oppressing them, or controlling, in any other man- 
ner, their destiny, by any European power, in any other light than 
as the manifestation of an unfriendly disposition towards the 
United States. , . . 



No. 8 1. The Bank Controversy: Jackson's 
First Annual Message 

December 8, 1829 

The charter of the Bank of the United States did not expire until 1836^ 
three years after the close of the term for which Jackson had been elected ; it 
was probable, however, that the bank would make early application for a 
renewal of its privileges. Jackson undoubtedly sympathized with those who 
feared the political and economic power of a great financial monopoly; the 
controversy involving the branch bank at Portsmouth, N. H., however, was 
probably the occasion for beginning his attack on the bank, which he did in 
his first annual message, transmitted to Congress Dec. 8, 1829. In the House 
this portion of the message was referred to the Committee of Ways and Means, 
which made an elaborate report April 13, 1830, through McDuffie of South 
Carolina, sustaining the bank. May 10 resolutions offered by Potter of North 



1829] JACKSON'S FIRST MESSAGE 321 

Carolina, against paper money and the bank, and against the renewal of the 
charter, were, by a vote of 89 to 66, laid on the table. May 26 Wayne of 
Georgia submitted resolutions calling on the Secretary of the Treasury for a 
great variety of information about the conduct and business of the bank; on 
the 29th these were disagreed to. In the Senate the Committee on Finance, 
through Smith of Maryland, reported, March 29, against any change in the 
currency. 

References. — Text of the message in House and Senate Journals, 21st 
Cong., ist Sess.; the extract here given is from the House Journal, 27, 28. 
For the discussions, see Cong. Debates, VI. McDuffie's report is printed as 
House Rep. 358; it is also in Cong. Debates, VI., part II., appendi.x, 104-133. 
Smith's report is Senate Rep. 104. Documents connected with the Portsmouth 
branch controversy are collected in Niles's Register, XXXVII., XXXVIII. ; 
Ingham's "Address," in his own defence, is in jb., XLII., 315, 316. The 
bank controversy as a whole is treated at length in all larger histories of the 
period, and in biographies of leading statesmen of the time. Niles's Register, 
XXXVII.-XLV., gives invaluable documentary material. Benton's Abridg- 
ment, X.-XII., gives full reports of debates; the same author's Thirty Years' 
View, I., is also of great value. 

The charter of the Bank of the United States expires in 1836, 
and its stockholders will most probably apply for a renewal of their 
privileges. In order to avoid the evils resulting from precipitancy 
in a measure involving such important principles, and such deep 
pecuniary interests, I feel that I cannot, in justice to the parties 
interested, too soon present it to the deliberate consideration of 
the Legislature and the People. Both the constitutionality and 
the expediency of the law creating this Bank are well questioned 
by a large portion of our fellow-citizens ; and it must be admitted 
by all, that it has failed in the great end of establishing a uniform 
and sound currency. 

Under these circumstances, if such an institution is deemed 
essential to the fiscal operations of the Government, I submit to 
the wisdom of the Legislature whether a national one, founded 
upon the credit of the Government and its revenues, might not be 
devised, which would avoid all constitutional difficulties; and, at 
the same time, secure all the advantages to the Government and 
country that were expected to result from the present Bank. 



322 JACKSON'S SECOND MESSAGE [Dec. > 

No. 82. The Bank Controversy: Jackson's 
Second Annual Message 

December 7, 1830 

Little attention was paid by Congress to so much of Jackson's second 
annual message as related to the Bank of the United States. December 9, in 
the House, an attempt by Wayne of Georgia to have that portion of the mes- 
sage referred to a select committee, instead of to the Committee of Ways and 
Means, was unsuccessful, the vote being 67 to 108. February 2, 1831, the 
Senate, by a vote of 20 to 23, rejected Benton's motion for leave to bring in a 
joint resolution declaring that the charter ought not to be renewed. The 
result in each of these cases was a victory for the bank. 

References. — ■ Text of the message in House and Senate Journals, 21st 
Cong., 2d Sess. ; the extract here given is from the Senate Journal, 30, 31. 
For the discussions, see Cong. Debates, or Benton's Abridgment, XI. 

The importance of the principles involved in the inquiry, 
vi^hether it will be proper to recharter the Bank of the United 
States, requires that I should again call the attention of Congress 
to the subject. Nothing has occurred to lessen, in any degree, 
the dangers which many of our citizens apprehend from that 
institution, as at present organized. In the spirit of improvement 
and compromise which distinguishes our country and its institu- 
tions, it becomes us to inquire, whether it be not possible to secure 
the advantages afforded by the present bank, through the agency 
of a Bank of the United States, so modified in its principles and 
structure as to obviate constitutional and other objections. 

It is thought practicable to organize such a bank, with the 
necessary officers, as a branch of the Treasury Department, based 
on the public and individual deposites, without power to make 
loans or purchase property, which shall remit the funds of the 
Government, and the expense of which may be paid, if thought 
advisable, by allowing its officers to sell bills of exchange to private 
individuals at a moderate premium. Not being a corporate body, 
having no stockholders, debtors, or property, and but few officers, 
it would not be obnoxious to the constitutional objections which 
are urged against the present bank; and having no means to 
operate on the hopes, fears, or interests, of large masf.es of the 
community, it would be shorn of the influence which makes that 



1830] JACKSON'S THIRD MESSAGE 323 

bank formidable. The States would be strengthened by having 
in their hands the means of furnishing the local paper currency 
through their own banks; while the Bank of the United States, 
though issuing no paper, would check the issues of the State banks 
by taking their notes in deposite, and for exchange, only so long 
as they continue to be redeemed with specie. In times of public 
emergency, the capacities of such an institution might be enlarged 
by legislative provisions. 

These suggestions are made, not so much as a recommendation, 
as with a view of calling the attention of Congress to the possible 
modifications of a system which can not continue to exist in its 
present form without occasional collisions with the local authorities, 
and perpetual apprehensions and discontent on the part of the 
States and the people. 



No. 83. The Bank Controversy: Jackson's 
Third Annual Message 

December 6, 1831 

The apparent disposition of Jackson, as indicated by his third annual mes- 
sage, to drop the subject of the bank was further emphasized by the annual 
report of the Secretary of the Treasury, submitted Dec. 7, in which the cause 
of the bank was advocated at length. 

References. — Text of the message in House and Senate Journals, 2 2d 
Cong., ist Sess.; the extract here given is from the Senate Journal, 17. For 
McLane's report, see House Exec. Doc. 3. 

Entertaining the opinions heretofore expressed in relation to the 
Bank of the United States as at present organized, I felt it my 
duty, in my former messages frankly to disclose them, in order 
that the attention of the legislature and the people should be 
seasonably directed to that important subject, and that it might be 
considered and finally disposed of in a manner best calculated to 
promote the ends of the Constitution and subserve the public 
interests. Having thus conscientiously discharged a constitutional 
duty, I deem it proper, on this occasion, without a more particular 
reference to the views of the subject there expressed, to leave it for 
the present to the investigation of an enlightened people and their 
representatives. 



324 JACKSON'S BANK VETO [July lo 



No. 84. Jackson's Bank Veto 

July 10, 1832 

The application of the Bank of the United States for a renewal of its 
charter was presented to Congress Jan. 9, 1832. In the Senate the memorial 
was referred to a select committee. March 13 Dallas of Pennsylvania, for 
the committee, reported a bill for a recharter of the bank; the bill was read 
a second time May 22, and debated until June 11, when it passed by a vote 
of 28 to 20. In the House the petition for a recharter had been referred to 
the Committee of Ways and Means, which reported Feb. 10, by McDufhe of 
South Carolina, a bill to renew and modify the charter. On the 23d Clayton 
of Georgia moved the appointment of a select committee to e.xamine the affairs 
of the bank. The motiftn was debated until March 14, when, with an amend- 
ment offered by J. Q. .\dams, it was agreed to. A majority report, to the 
effect "that the bank ought not to be rechartered until the debt was all paid 
and the revenue readjusted," was made by Clayton AprO 30 ; minority reports, 
defending the bank, were presented by McDuffie and Adams May 11 and 14. 
The Senate bill was not taken up for discussion in the House until June 30; 
July 3 it was passed with amendments, under suspension of the rules, by a 
vote of 107 to 86. The Senate concurred in the House amendments, and 
the bill went to the President, who returned it July 10 without his approval. 
In the Senate, July 13, the vote on the repassage of the bill stood 22 to 19, 
less than the required two-thirds; so the bill failed. Only the most important 
portions of the veto message, which is very long, are here given. 

References. — Text in Senate Journal, 22d Cong., ist Sess., 433-446; 
the message is also printed as Senate Doc. 180, and House Exec. Doc. 300. 
Full reports of the discussions are in the Cong. Debates, and Benton's Abridg- 
ment, XI. The te.xt of the bank bill is in the Senate Journal, 451-453. For 
Clayton's report, see House Rep. 460; the document includes the minority 
reports, evidence, and papers relating to the Portsmouth controversy. Web- 
ster's speeches of May 25 and 28, on the bill, are in his Works (ed. 1857), 
III., 391-415; speech of July 11, on the veto, ^'5., III., 416-447. Clay's 
speech of July 12, on the veto, is in his Life and Speeches (ed. 1844), 
II., 94-105. Numerous reports and memorials relating to the bank will be 
found in the House and Senate documents of this session. 

... I sincerely regret, that, in the act before me, I can per- 
ceive none of those modifications of the bank charter which are 
necessary, in my opinion, to make it compatible with justice, with 
sound policy, or with the constitution of our country. . . . 

Every monopoly, and all exclusive privileges, are granted at the 
expense of the public, which ought to receive a fair equivalent. 
The many millions which this act proposes to bestow on the 



1832] JACKSON'S BANK VETO 325 

stockholders of the existing bank, must come directly or indirectly 
out of the earnings of the American people. It is due to them, 
therefore, if their Government sell monopolies and exclusive 
privileges, that they should at least exact for them as much as 
they are worth in open market. The value of the monopoly 
in this case may be correctly ascertained. The twenty-eight mil- 
lions of stock would probably be at an advance of fifty per cent., 
and command in market at least forty-two millions of dollars, 
subject to the payment of the present bonus. The present value 
of the monopoly, therefore, is seventeen millions of dollars, and 
this the act proposes to sell for three millions, payable in fifteen 
annual instalments of $200,000 each. . . . 

It has been urged as an argument in favor of rechartering the 
present bank, that the calling in its loans will produce great 
embarrassment and distress. The time allowed to close its con- 
cerns is ample; and if it has been well managed, its pressure will 
be light, and heavy only in case its management has been bad. 
If, therefore, it shall produce distress, the fault will be its own; 
and it would furnish a reason against renewing a power which has 
been so obviously abused. But will there ever be a time when 
this reason will be less powerful ? To acknowledge its force, is to 
admit that the bank ought to be perpetual ; and, as a consequence, 
the present stockholders, and those inheriting their rights as suc- 
cessors, be established a privileged order, clothed both with great 
political power, and enjoying immense pecuniary advantages, from 
their connection with the Government. 

The modifications of the existing charter, proposed by this act, 
are not such, in my view, as make it consistent with the rights of 
the States or the liberties of the people. The qualification of the 
right of the bank to hold real estate, the limitation of its power to 
establish branches, and the power reserved to Congress to forbid 
the circulation of small notes, are restrictions comparatively of 
little value or importance. All the objectionable principles of the 
existing corporation, and most of its odious features, are retained 
without alleviation. . . . 

Is there no danger to our liberty and independence in a bank, 
that, in its nature, has so little to bind it to our country? The 
President of the bank has told us that most of the State banks 
exist by its forbearance. Should its influence become concentred, 



326 JACKSON'S BANK VETO [July 10 

as it may under the operation of such an act as this, in the hands 
of a self-elected directory, whose interests are identified with those 
of the foreign stockholder, will there not be cause to tremble for 
the purity of our elections in peace, and for the independence of 
our country in war ? Their power would be great whenever they 
might choose to exert it; but if this monopoly were regularly 
renewed every fifteen or twenty years, on terms proposed by 
themselves, they might seldom in peace put forth their strength 
to influence elections, or control the affairs of the nation. 
But if any private citizen or public functionary^ should inter- 
pose to curtail its powers, or prevent a renewal of its privileges, 
it cannot be doubted that he would be made to feel its influence. 

Should the stock of the bank principally pass into the hands of 
the subjects of a foreign countr}-, and we should unfortunately 
become involved in a war with that country, what would be our 
condition ? Of the course which would be pursued by a bank 
almost wholly owned by the subjects of a foreign power, and 
managed by those whose interests, if not affections, would run in 
the same direction, there can be no doubt. All its operations 
within, would be in aid of the hostile fleets and armies without. 
Controlling our currency, receiving our public moneys, and hold- 
ing thousands of our citizens in independance, it would be more 
formidable and dangerous than the naval and militan- power of 
the enemy. 

If we must have a bank with private stockholders, every consid- 
eration of sound policy, and every impulse of American feeling, 
admonishes that it should be purely Ajnerican. . . . 

It is maintained by the advocates of the bank that its constitu- 
tionality in all its features ought to be considered as settled by 
precedent, and by the decision of the Supreme Court. To this 
conclusion I cannot assent. Mere precedent is a dangerous source 
of authority, and should not be regarded as deciding questions of 
constitutional power, except where the acquiescence of the people 
and the States can be considered as well settled. So far from this 
being the case on this subject, an argument against the bank 
might be based on precedent. One Congress, in 1791, decided 
in favor of a bank; another, in 181 1, decided against it. One 
Congress, in 1815, decided against a bank; another, in 1816, 
decided in its favor. Prior to the present Congress, therefore, 



1832] JACKSON'S BANK VETO 327 

the precedents drawn from that source were equal. If we resort 
to the States, the expressions of legislative, judicial, and executive 
opinions against the bank, have been, probably, to those in its 
favor, as four to one. There is nothing in precedent, therefore, 
which, if its authority were admitted, ought to weigh in favor of 
the act before me. 

If the opinion of the Supreme Court covered the whole ground 
of this act, it ought not to control the co-ordinate authorities of 
this Government. The Congress, the Executive, and the Court, 
must each for itself be guided by its own opinion of the constitu- 
tion. Each public officer, who takes an oath to support the 
constitution, swears that he will support it as he understands it, 
and not as it is understood by others. It is as much the duty of 
the House of Representatives, of the Senate, and of the President, 
to decide upon the constitutionality of any bill or resolution which 
may be presented to them for passage or approval, as it is of the 
Supreme Judges when it may be brought before them for judicial 
decision. The opinion of the judges has no more authority over 
Congress, than, the opinion of Congress has over the judges; and 
on that point, the President is independent of both. The author- 
ity of the Supreme Court must not, therefore, be permitted to 
control the Congress or the Executive when acting in their legis- 
lative capacities, but to have only such influence as the force of 
their reasoning may deserve. 

But, in the case relied upon, the Supreme Court have not 
decided that all the features of this corporation are compatible 
with the constitution. It is true that the court have said that the 
law incorporating the bank is a constitutional exercise of power by 
Congress. But, taking into view the whole opinion of the court, 
and the reasoning by which they have come to that conclusion, 
I understand them to have decided that, inasmuch as a bank is 
an appropriate means for carrying into effect the enumerated 
powers of the General Government, therefore the law incorpo- 
rating it is in accordance with that provision of the constitution 
which declares that Congress shall have power "to make all laws 
which shall be necessary and proper for carrying those powers 
into execution." Having satisfied themselves that the word 
"necessary" in the constitution, means "needful," "requisite," 
"essential," "conducive to," and that "a bank" is a convenient, 



328 JACKSON'S BANK VETO [July 10 

a useful, and essential instrument, in the prosecution of the 
Government's "fiscal operations," they conclude, that to "use 
one must be within the discretion of Congress," and that "the 
act to incorporate the Bank of the United States is a law made in 
pursuance of the constitution": "but," say they, '^ where the law 
is not prohibited, and is really calculated to effect any of the objects 
entrusted to the Government, to undertake here to inquire into the 
degree of its necessity, would be to pass the line which circumscribes 
the judicial department, and to tread on legislative ground." 

The principle here affirmed is, that the "degree of its neces- 
sity," involving all the details of a banking institution, is a question 
exclusively for legislative consideration. A bank is constitutional; 
but it is the province of the Legislature to determine whether this 
or that particular power, privilege, or exemption, is "necessary 
and proper" to enable the bank to discharge its duties to the 
Government; and, from their decision, there is no appeal to the 
courts of justice. . . . 

That a Bank of the United States, competent to all the duties 
which may be required by the Government, might be so organ- 
ized as not to infringe on our own delegated powers, or the 
reserved rights of the States, I do not entertain a doubt. 
Had the Executive been called upon to furnish the project 
of such an institution, the duty would have been cheerfully 
performed. In the absence of such a call, it is obviously proper 
that he should confine himself to pointing out those prominent 
features in the act presented, which, in his opinion, make it in- 
compatible with the constitution and sound policy. A general 
discussion will now take place, eliciting new light, and settling 
important principles; and a new Congress, elected in the midst 
of such discussion, and furnishing an equal representation of the 
people according to the last census, will bear to the Capitol the 
verdict of public opinion, and, I doubt not, bring this important 
question to a satisfactory result. . . . 

Suspicions are entertained, and charges are made, of gross 
abuse and violation of its charter. An investigation unwillingly 
conceded, and so restricted in time as necessarily to make it 
incomplete and unsatisfactory, discloses enough to excite suspicion 
and alarm. ... As the charter had yet four years to run, and 
as a renewal now was not necessary to the successful prosecution 



1832] ORDINANCE OF NULLIFICATION 329 

of its business, it was to have been expected that the bank itself, 
conscious of its purity, and proud of its character, would have 
withdrawn its application for the present, and demanded the 
severest scrutiny into all its transactions. In their declining to 
do so, there seems to be an additional reason why the function- 
aries of the Government should proceed with less haste, and more 
caution, in the renewal of their monopoly. 

The bank is professedly established as an agent of the Execu- 
tive branches . of the Government, and its constitutionality is 
maintained on that ground. Neither upon the propriety of 
present action, nor upon the provisions of this act, was the 
Executive consulted. It has had no opportunity to say that it 
neither needs nor wants an agent clothed with such powers, and 
favored by such exemptions. There is nothing in its legitimate 
functions which make it necessary or proper. Whatever interest 
or influence, whether public or private, has given birth to this act, 
it cannot be found either in the wishes or necessities of the Ex- 
ecutive Department, by which present action is deemed premature, 
and the powers conferred upon its agent not only unnecessary, 
but dangerous to the Government and country. ... 



No. SS' South Carolina Ordinance of Nulli- 
fication 

November 24, 1832 

The tariff act of 1828, popularly styled the "tariff of abominations," 
called out vigorous protests from the legislatures of South Carolina and 
Georgia. The tariff act of July 14, 1832, while doing away with some of the 
most objectionable features of the act of 1828, showed no signs of an abandon- 
ment of the protective policy. The South Carolina election of 1832, accord- 
ingly, turned on the question of calling a convention to nullify the tariff laws. 
The legislature met in extra session Oct. 22; on the 26th, in accordance with 
the suggestion of Governor Hamilton in his message, a bill for calling a con- 
vention was passed. The convention met Nov. 19. Of the 162 delegates 
present, 136 favored nullification. November 24, by a vote of 136 to 26, 
the Ordinance of Nullification was adopted. Addresses to the people of the 
United States and of South Carolina were also issued. The legislature met 
in regular session Nov. 27, and promptly passed a series of laws to give effect 
to the ordinance. 



33© ORDINANCE OF NULLIFICATION [Nov. 24 

References. — Text in Senate Doc. 30, 22d Cong., 2d Sess., pp. 36-39*, 
the document contains also the report of the committee of 21 to the conven- 
tion, addresses to the people of South Carolina and of the United States, mes- 
sage of Governor Hamilton to the legislature, inaugural address of Governor 
Hayne, and the three acts. The proceedings of the convention are in State 
Papers on Nullification (Mass. Gen. Court, Misc. Doc, 1834). Numerous 
documents are collected in Niles's Register, XLIII. Houston's Critical 
Study of Nullification in South Carolina is of prime importance; see especially, 
on the ordinance, pp. 106-115. The protests of South Carolina and Georgia 
against the tariff of 1828 are in MacDonald's Select Documents, Nos. 44 
and 45. 

An Ordinance to Nullify certain acts of the Congress of the United 

States, purporting to he laws laying duties and imposts on the 

importation of foreign commodities. 

Whereas the Congress of the United States, by various acts, pur- 
porting to be acts laying duties and imposts on foreign imports, 
but in reality intended for the protection of domestic manufac- 
tures, and the giving of bounties to classes and individuals en- 
gaged in particular employments, at the expense and to the injury 
and oppression of other classes and individuals, and by wholly 
exempting from ta.xation certain foreign commodities, such as are 
not produced or manufactured in the United States, to afford a 
pretext for imposing higher and excessive duties on articles simi- 
lar to those intended to be protected, hath exceeded its just 
powers under the Constitution, which confers on it no authority to 
afford such protection, and hath violated the true meaning and 
intent of the Constitution, which provides for equality in imposing 
the burthens of taxation upon the several States and portions of 
the confederacy; And whereas the said Congress, exceeding its 
just power to impose taxes and collect revenue for the purpose of 
effecting and accomplishing the specific objects and purposes 
which the Constitution of the United States authorizes it to effect 
and accomplish, hath raised and collected unnecessary revenue 
for objects unauthorized by the Constitution : 

We, therefore, the people of the State of South Carolina in Con- 
vention assembled, do declare and ordain, and it is hereby declared 
and ordained, that the several acts and parts of acts of the Congress 
of the United States, purporting to be laws for the imposing of 
duties and imposts on the importation of foreign commodities, and 
now having actual operation and effect within the United States, 



1832] ORDINANCE OF NULLIFICATION 331 

and, more especially, . . . [the tariff acts of 1828 and 1832] . . . , 
are unauthorized by the Constitution of the United States, and 
violate the true meaning and intent thereof, and are null, void, 
and no law, nor binding upon this State, its officers or citizens; 
and all promises, contracts, and obligations, made or entered into, 
or to be made or entered into, with purpose to secure the duties 
imposed by the said acts, and all judicial proceedings which shall 
be hereafter had in affirmance thereof, are and shall be held 
utterly null and void. 

And it is further ordained, that it shall not be lawful for any of 
the constituted authorities, whether of this State or of the United 
States, to enforce the payment of duties imposed by the said 
acts within the limits of this State; but it shall be the duty of the 
Legislature to adopt such measures and pass such acts as may be 
necessary to give full effect to this ordinance, and to prevent the 
enforcement and arrest the operation of the said acts and parts of 
acts of the Congress of the United States within the limits of this 
State, from and after the ist day of February next, and the duty 
of all other constituted authorities, and of all persons residing or 
being within the limits of this State, and they are hereby required 
and enjoined, to obey and give effect to this ordinance, and such 
acts and measures of the Legislature as may be passed or adopted 
in obedience thereto. 

And it is further ordained, that in no case of law or equity, 
decided in the courts of this State, wherein shall be drawn in 
question the authority of this ordinance, or the validity of such 
act or acts of the Legislature as may be passed for the purpose of 
giving effect thereto, or the validity of the aforesaid acts of Con- 
gress, imposing duties, shall any appeal be taken or allowed to the 
Supreme Court of the United States, nor shall any copy of the 
record be permitted or allowed for that purpose ; and if any such 
appeal shall be attempted to be taken, the courts of this State 
shall proceed to execute and enforce their judgments, according 
to the laws and usages of the State, without reference to such 
attempted appeal, and the person or persons attempting to take 
such appeal may be dealt with as for a contempt of the court. 

And it is further ordained, that all persons bow [now] holding 
any office of honor, profit, or trust, civil or military, under this 
State, (members of the Legislature excepted,) shall, within such 



332 ORDINANCE OF NULLIFICATION [Nov. 24 

time, and In such manner as the Legislature shall prescribe, take 
an oath well and truly to obey, execute, and enforce, this ordi- 
nance, and such act or acts of the Legislature as may be passed in 
pursuance thereof, according to the true intent and meaning of 
the same; and on the neglect or omission of any such person or 
persons so to do, his or their office or offices shall be forthwith 
vacated, and shall be filled up as if such person or persons were 
dead or had resigned; and no person hereafter elected to any 
office of honor, profit, or trust, civil or military, (members of the 
Legislature excepted,) shall, until the Legislature shall otherwise 
provide and direct, enter on the execution of his office, or be in 
any respect competent to discharge the duties thereof, until he 
shall, in like manner, have taken a similar oath; and no juror 
shall be empannelled in any of the courts of this State, in any 
cause in which shall be in question this ordinance, or any act of 
the Legislature passed in pursuance thereof, unless he shall first, 
in addition to the usual oath, have taken an oath that he will well 
and truly obey, execute, and enforce this ordinance, and such act 
or acts of the Legislature as may be passed to carry the same into 
operation and effect, according to the true intent and meaning 
thereof. 

And we, the people of South Carolina, to the end that it may 
be fully understood by the Gov nment of the United States, and 
the people of the co-States, that we are determined to maintain 
this, our ordinance and declaration, at every hazard, do further 
declare that we will not submit to the application of force, on the 
part of the Federal Government, to reduce this State to obedi- 
ence; but that we will consider the passage, by Congress, of any 
act authorizing the employment of a military or naval force against 
the State of South Carolina, her constituted authorities or citizens; 
or any act al)olishing or closing the ports of this State, or any of 
them, or otherwise obstructing the free ingress and egress of ves- 
sels to and from the said ports, or any other act on the part of the 
Federal Government, to coerce the State, shut up her ports, 
destroy or harrass her commerce, or to enforce the acts hereby 
declared to be null and void, otherwise than through the civil tri- 
bunals of the country, as inconsistent with the longer continuance 
of South Carolina in the Union : and that the people of this State 
will thenceforth hold themselves absolved from all further obliga. 



1832] PROCLAMATION TO SOUTH CAROLINA 333 

tion to maintain or preserve their political connexion with the 
people of the other States, and will forthwith proceed to organize 
a separate Government, and do all other acts and things which 
sovereign and independent States may of right to do.^ 



No. 86. Jackson's Proclamation to the 
People of South Carolina 

December 10, 1832 

In anticipation of the action of the South Carolina convention, Jackson 
issued additional instructions to the collector at Charleston, and made prep- 
arations for using the military and naval forces of the United States if neces- 
sary. The authorities of South Carolina made similar preparations. Hayne 
had left the Senate to become governor of the State, his place being taken by 
Calhoun, who resigned the Vice-Presidency. In his annual message of Dec. 
4, 1832, Jackson referred briefly to the state of affairs in South Carolina, and 
expressed the hope that existing laws would prove sufficient for any exigency. 
On the loth he issued the proclamation to the people of South Carolina, ex- 
tracts from which follow. December 20 Governor Hayne, at the request of 
the legislature, issued a counter proclamation, in which, among other matters, 
the interference of the President was resented, and the right of secession 
affirmed. On the same day general orders, over the signature of the adjutant 
general of the State, invited the services of volunteers. 

References. — Text in Senate Doc. 30, 22d Cong., 2d Sess., pp. 78-92; 
the same document contains also the instructions to the collector of customs 
and the United States district attorney, and the proclamation of Governor 
Hayne. The resolution of the legislature of South Carolina, in response to 
the proclamation, is in Niles's Register, XLIIL, 300. 

[After reciting the circumstances under which the Ordinance of 
Nullification was issued, and the substance of its assertions, the 
proclamation continues :] 

And whereas, the said ordinance prescribes to the people of 
South Carolina a course of conduct in direct violation of their 
duty as citizens of the United States, contrary to the laws of their 
country, subversive of its Constitution, and having for its object 
the destruction of the Union — that Union, which, coeval with 
our political existence, led our fathers, without any other ties to 
unite them than those of patriotism and a common cause, through 

' The formal indorsement and the names of the signers are omitted. — Ed. 



334 PROCLAMATION TO SOUTH CAROLINA [Dec. lo 

a sanguinary struggle to a glorious independence — that sacred 
Union, hitherto inviolate, which, perfected by our happy Constitu- 
tion, has brought us, by the favor of Heaven, to a state of pros- 
perity at home, and high consideration abroad, rarely, if ever, 
equalled in the history of nations. To preserve this bond of our 
political existence from destruction, to maintain inviolate this state 
of national honor and prosperity, and to justify the confidence my 
fellow citizens have reposed in me, I, Andrew Jackson, President 
of the United States, have thought proper to issue this my PROC- 
LAMATION, stating my views of the Constitution and laws appli- 
cable to the measures adopted by the Convention of South Carolina, 
and to the reasons they have put forth to sustain them, declaring 
the course which duty will require me to pursue, and, appealing 
to the understanding and patriotism of the people, warn them of 
the consequences that must inevitably result from an observance 
of the dictates of the Convention. . . . 

The ordinance is founded, not on the indefeasible right of 
resisting acts which are plainly unconstitutional, and too oppres- 
sive to be endured; but on the strange position that any one 
State may not only declare an act of Congress void, but prohibit 
its execution — that they may do this consistently with the Consti- 
tution — that the true construction of that instrument permits a 
State to retain its place in the Union, and yet be bound by no 
other of its laws than those it may choose to consider as consti- 
tutional. It is true, they add, that to justify this abrogation of a 
law, it must be palpably contrary to the Constitution; but it is 
evident, that, to give the right of resisting laws of that description, 
coupled with the uncontrolled right to decide what laws deserve 
that character, is to give the power of resisting all laws. For, as 
by the theory, there is no appeal, the reasons alleged by the State, 
good or bad, must prevail. If it should be said that public opinion 
is a sufficient check against the abuse of this power, it may be 
asked why it is not deemed a sufficient guard against the passage 
of an unconstitutional act by Congress? There is, however, a 
restraint in this last case, which makes the assumed power of a 
State more indefensible, and which does not exist in the other. 
There are two appeals from an unconstitutional act passed by 
Congress — one to the Judiciary, the other to the people and the 
States. There is no appeal from the State decision in theory, and 



1832] PROCLAMATION TO SOUTH CAROLINA 335 

the practical illustration shows that the courts are closed against 
an application to review it, both judges and jurors being sworn to 
decide in its favor. But reasoning on this subject is superfluous, 
when our social compact, in express terms, declares that the laws 
of the United States, its Constitution, and treaties made under it, 
are the supreme law of the land; and, for greater caution, adds 
"that the judges in every State shall be bound thereby, anything 
in the Constitution or laws of any State to the contrary notwith- 
standing." And it may be asserted without fear of refutation, that 
no Federative Government could exist without a similar provision. 
Look for a moment to the consequence. If South Carolina con- 
siders the revenue laws unconstitutional, and has a right to prevent 
their execution in the port of Charleston, there would be a clear 
constitutional objection to their collection in every other port, and 
no revenue could be collected any where; for all imposts must be 
equal. It is no answer to repeat, that an unconstitutional law is 
no law, so long as the question of its legality is to be decided 
by the State itself; for every law operating injuriously upon any 
local interest will be perhaps thought, and certainly represented, 
as unconstitutional, and, as has been shown, there is no 
appeal. . . . 

If the doctrine of a State veto upon the laws of the Union carries 
with it internal evidence of its impracticable absurdity, our con- 
stitutional history will also afford abundant proof that it would 
have been repudiated with indignation had it been proposed to 
form a feature in our Government. . . . 

I consider, then, the power to annul a law of the United States, 
assumed by one State, incompatible with the existence of the 
Union, contradicted expressly by the letter of the Consti- 
tution, UNAUTHORIZED BY ITS SPIRIT, INCONSISTENT WITH EVERY 
PRINCIPLE ON WHICH IT WAS FOUNDED, AND DESTRUCTIVE OF THE 
GREAT OBJECT FOR WHICH IT WAS FORMED. 

After this general view of the leading principle, we. must exam- 
ine the particular application of it which is made in the ordinance. 

The preamble rests its justification on these grounds : It assumes, 
as a fact, that the obnoxious laws, although they purport to be 
laws for raising revenue, were in reality intended for the protection 
of manufactures, which purpose it asserts to be unconstitutional; 
that the operation of these laws is unequal; that the amount 



336 PROCLAMATION TO SOUTH CAROLINA [Dec. 10 

raised by them is greater than is required by the wants of the 
Government; and, finally, that the proceeds are to be applied 
to objects unauthorized by the Constitution. These are the only 
causes alleged to justify an open opposition to the laws of the 
country, and a threat of seceding from the Union, if any attempt 
should be made to enforce them. The first virtually acknowledges 
that the law in question was passed under a power expressly given 
by the Constitution to lay and collect imposts; but its constitu- 
tionality is drawn in question from the motives of those who passed 
it. However apparent this purpose may be in the present case, 
nothing can be more dangerous than to admit the position that an 
unconstitutional purpose, entertained by the members who assent 
to a, law enacted under a constitutional p^wer, shall make that 
law void: for how is that purpose to be ascertained? Who is to 
make the scrutiny? How often may bad purposes be falsely 
imputed — in how many cases are they concealed by false pro- 
fessions — in how many is no declaration of motive made ? Admit 
this doctrine, and you give to the States an uncontrolled right to 
decide, and every law may be annulled under this pretext. If, 
therefore, the absurd and dangerous doctrine should be admitted, 
that a State may annul an unconstitutional law, or one that it 
deems such, it will not apply to the present case. 

The next objection is, that the laws in question operate un- 
equally. This objection may be made with truth, to every law 
that has been or can be passed. The wisdom of man never yet 
contrived a system of taxation that would operate with perfect 
equality. If the unequal operation of a law makes it unconstitu- 
tional, and if all laws of that description may be abrogated by any 
State for that cause, then indeed is the Federal Constitution un- 
worthy of the slightest effort for its preservation. . . . 

The two remaining objections made by the ordinance to these 
laws, are that the sums intended to be raised by them are greater 
than are required, and that the proceeds will be unconstitutionally 
employed. 

The Constitution has given, expressly, to Congress the right of 
raising revenue, and of determining the sum the public exigencies 
will require. The States have no control over the exercise of this 
right other than that which results from the power of changing the 
representatives who abuse it, and thus procure redress. Congress 



183:3] PROCLAMATION TO SOUTH CAROLINA 337 

may, undoubtedly, abuse this discretionary power, but the same 
may be said of others with which they are vested. Yet the dis- 
cretion must exist somewhere. The Constitution has given it to 
the representatives of all the people, checked by the representa- 
tives of the States, and by the Executive Power. The South 
Carolina construction gives it to the Legislature or the Conven- 
tion of a single State, where neither the people of the different 
States, nor the States in their separate capacity, nor the Chief 
Magistrate elected by the people, have any representation. Which 
is the most discreet disposition of the power ? . . . 

The ordinance, with the same knowledge of the future that 
characterizes a former objection, tells you that the proceeds of 
the tax will be unconstitutionally applied. If this could be ascer- 
tained with certainty, the objection would, with more propriety, 
be reserved for the law so applying the proceeds, but surely can 
not be urged against the laws levying the duty. ... 

On such expositions and reasonings, the ordinance grounds not 
only an assertion of the right to annul the laws of which it com- 
plains, but to enforce it by a threat of seceding from the Union if 
any attempt is made to execute them. 

This right to secede is deduced from the nature of the Constitu- 
tion, which, they say, is a compact between sovereign States, who 
have preserved their whole sovereignty, and, therefore, are subject 
to no superior; that, because they made the compact, they can 
break it when, in their opinion, it has been departed from by the 
other States. . . . 

The people of the United States formed the Constitution, acting 
through the State Legislatures in making the compact, to meet 
and discuss its provisions, and acting in separate Conventions 
when they ratified those provisions: but the terms used in its 
construction, show it to be a government in which the people of 
all the States collectively are represented. . . . 

The Constitution of the United States then forms a government, 
not a league; and whether it be formed by compact between the 
States, or in any other manner, its character is the same. It is a 
government in which all the people are represented, which operates 
directly on the people individually, not upon the States — they 
retained all the power they did not grant. But each State having 
expressly parted with so many powers as to constitute, jointly 



338 PROCLAMATION TO SOUTH CAROLINA [Dec. 10 

with the other States, a single nation, cannot, from that period, 
possess any right to secede, because such secession does not 
break a league, but destroys the unity of a nation ; and any injury 
to that unity is not only a breach which would result from the 
contravention of a compact, but it is an offence against the whole 
Union. To say that any State may at pleasure secede from the 
Union, is to say that the United States are not a nation, because 
it would be a solecism to contend that any part of a nation might 
dissolve its conne.xion with the other parts, to their injury or ruin, 
without committing any offence. Secession, like any other revo- 
lutionary act, may be morally justified by the extremity of oppres- 
sion; but to call it a constitutional right, is confounding the 
meaning of terms; and can only be done through gross error, or 
to deceive those who are willing to assert a right, but would pause 
before they made a revolution, or incur the penalties consequent 
on a failure. 

Because the Union was formed by compact, it is said the parties 
to that compact may, when they feel themselves aggrieved, depart 
from it : but it is precisely because it is a compact that they cannot. 
A compact is an agreement or binding obligation. It may by its 
terms have a sanction or penalty for its breach or it may not. 
If it contains no sanction, it may be broken with no other conse- 
quence than moral guilt: if it have a sanction, then the breach 
insures the designated or implied penalty. A league between 
independent n9,tions, generally, has no sanction other than a moral 
one; or if it should contain a penalty, as there is no common 
superior, it cannot be enforced. A government, on the contrary, 
alvvays has a sanction, express or implied; and, in our case, it is 
both necessarily implied and expressly given. An attempt, by 
force of arms, to destroy a government, is an offence by whatever 
means the constitutional compact may have been formed, and 
such government has the right, by the law of self-defence, to pass 
acts for punishing the offender, unless that right is modified, 
restrained, or resumed by the constitutional act. In our system, 
although it is modified in the case of treason, yet authority is 
expressly given to pass all laws necessary to carry its powers into 
effect, and, under this grant, provision has been made for punishing 
acts which obstruct the due administration of the laws. 

... No one, fellow citizens, has a higher reverence for ths 



1832] PROCLAMATION TO SOUTH CAROLINA 339 

reserved rights of the States than the magistrate who now ad- 
dresses you. No one would make greater personal sacrifices, 
or official exertions, to defend them from violation ; but equal care 
must be taken to prevent, on their part, an improper interference 
with, or resumption of, the rights they have vested in the nation. 
The line has not been so distinctly drawn as to avoid doubts in 
some cases of the exercise of power. Men of the best intentions 
and soundest views may differ in their construction of some parts 
of the Constitution; but there are others on which dispassionate 
reflection can leave no doubt. Of this nature appears to be the 
assumed right of secession. . . . 

These are the alternatives that are presented by the Convention : 
a repeal of all the acts for raising revenue, leaving the Government 
without the means of support, or an acquiescence in the dissolu- 
tion of our Union by the secession of one of its members. When 
the first was proposed, it was known that it could not be listened 
to for a moment. It was known, if force was applied to oppose 
the execution of the laws that it must be repelled by force; that 
Congress could not, without involving itself in disgrace and the 
country in ruin, accede to the proposition: and yet if this is not 
done in a given day, or if any attempt is made to execute the 
laws, the State is, by the ordinance, declared to be out of the 
Union. The majority of a Convention assembled for the purpose, 
have dictated these terms, or rather this rejection of all terms, in 
the name of the people of South Carolina. It is true that the 
Governor of the State speaks of the submission of their grievances 
to a Convention of all the States, which, he says, they "sincerely 
and anxiously seek and desire." Yet this obvious and constitu- 
tional mode of obtaining the sense of the other States on the 
construction of the federal compact, and amending it, if neces- 
sary, has never been attempted by those who have urged the 
State on to this destructive measure. The State might have pro- 
posed the call for a General Convention to the other States; and 
Congress, if a sufficient number of them concurred, must have 
called it. But the first magistrate of South Carolina, when he 
expressed a hope that, "on a review by Congress and the func- 
tionaries of the General Government, of the merits of the contro- 
versy," such a Convention will be accorded to them, must have 
known that neither Congress, nor any functionary of the General 



340 PROCLAMATION TO SOUTH CAROLINA [Dec. lo 

Government, has authority to call such a Convention, unless it be 
demanded by two-thirds of the States. This suggestion, then, is 
another instance of the reckless inattention to the provisions of the 
Constitution with which this crisis has been madly hurried on ; or 
of the attempt to persuade the people that a constitutional rem- 
edy had been sought and refused. If the Legislature of South 
Carolina "anxiously desire" a General Convention to consider 
their complaints, why have they not made application for it in the 
way the Constitution points out? The assertion that they "ear- 
nestly seek it" is completely negatived by the omission. 

This, then, is the position in which we stand. A small majority 
of the citizens of one State in the Union have elected delegates to 
a State Convention; that Convention has ordained that all the 
revenue laws of the United States must be repealed, or that they 
are no longer a member of the Union. The Governor of that 
State has recommended to the Legislature the raising of an army 
to carry the secession into effect, and that he may be empowered 
to give clearances to vessels in the name of the State. No act of 
violent opposition to the laws has yet been committed, but such a 
state of things is hourly apprehended; and it is the intent of 
this instrument to proclaim, not only that the duty imposed on 
me by the Constitution "to take care that the laws be faithfully 
executed," shall be performed to the extent of the powers already 
vested in me by law, or of such others as the wisdom of Congress 
shall devise and entrust to me for that purpose, but to warn the 
citizens of South Carolina who have been deluded into an opposi- 
tion to the laws, of the danger they will incur by obedience to the 
illegal and disorganizing ordinance of the Convention; to exhort 
those who have refused to support it to persevere in their deter- 
mination to uphold the Constitution and laws of their country; 
and to point out to all the perilous situation into which the good 
people of that State have been led, and that the course they are 
urged to pursue is one of ruin and disgrace to the very State whose 
rights they affect to support. . . . 



1833] ACT FOR ENFORCING THE TARIFF 341 

No. 87. Act for Enforcing the Tariff 

March 2, 1833 

In his annual message of Dec. 4, 1832, Jackson suggested that "the policy 
of protection must be ultimately limited to those articles of domestic manu- 
facture which are indispensable to our safety in time of war" ; and the annual 
report of the Secretary of the Treasury recommended a reduction of duties to 
a revenue basis. December 27 Verplanck of New York reported from the 
House Committee of Ways and Means a bill to reduce the tariff. January 
16, 1833, Jackson sent to Congress his message on nullification, reviewing the 
progress of events in South Carolina and asking for additional legislation to 
enforce the revenue laws. On the 21st a bill to enforce the collection of the 
revenue was reported in the Senate by Wilkins of Pennsylvania, from the Com- 
mittee on the Judiciary. The tariff bill, sharply antagonized by protectionist 
members, was meantime making its way through the House. February 12 
Clay introduced in the Senate a compromise tariff bill. On the 20th the Sen- 
ate passed the "force bill" by a vote of 32 to i, and on the following day took 
up Clay's bill. On the 25th the House recommitted its tariff bill, by a vote 
of 95 to 54, with instructions to report the compromise tariff in its place; on 
the 26th the latter passed the House, the vote being 119 to 85. The same 
day the Senate laid Clay's bill on the table, and March i passed the House 
bill, by a vote of 29 to 16. The "force bill" passed the House March i, by 
a vote of 149 to 47. In the meantime, many State legislatures had passed 
resolutions against nullification. The South Carolina ordinance was to go 
into effect Feb. i, but action was deferred pending congressional settlement 
of the tariff. The passage of the compromise tariff was regarded as a sig- 
nal victory by the nuUifiers. The convention was summoned to meet 
March 11 ; on the i8th it dissolved, after repealing the ordinance of nullifica- 
tion and adopting an ordinance nullifying the "force bill." 

References. — Text in U. S. Stat, at Large, IV., 632-635. For the pro- 
ceedings, see the House and Senate Journals, 22d Cong., 2d Bess.; for the 
discussions, see the Cong. Debates, or Benton's Abridgment, XII. Niles's 
Register, XLIII., contains abstracts of debates and numerous documents. 
The message of Jan. 16 is in the Journals. The speeches of Webster and 
Calhoun on the "force bill" are in the Cong. Debates, and also Calhoun's 
Works (ed. 1853), II., 197-309, and Webster's Works (ed. 1857), III., 448- 
505- 

An Act further to provide for the collection of duties on hnports. 

Be it enacted . . . , That whenever, by reason of unlawful 
obstructions, combinations, or assemblages of persons, it shall 
become impracticable, in the judgment of the President, 
to execute the revenue laws, and collect the duties on imports 
in the ordinary way, in any collection district, it shall and 
may be lawful for the President to direct that the custom-house 



342 ACT FOR ENFORCING THE TARIFF [March 2 

for such district be established and kept in any secure place within 
some port or harbour of such district, either upon land or on board 
any vessel ; and, in that case, it shall be the duty of the collector 
to reside at such place, and there to detain all vessels and cargoes 
arriving within the said district until the duties imposed on said 
cargoes, by law, be paid in cash, deducting interest according to 
existing laws; and in such cases it shall be unlawful to take the 
vessel or cargo from the custody of the proper officer of the cus- 
toms, unless by process from some Court of the United States; 
and in case of any attempt otherwise to take such vessel or cargo 
by any force, or combination, or assemblage of persons too great 
to be overcome by the officers of the customs, it shall and may be 
lawful for the President of the United States, or such person or 
persons as he shall have empowered for that purpose, to employ 
such part of the land or naval forces, or militia of the United States, 
as may be deemed necessary for the purpose of preventing the 
removal of such vessel or cargo, and protecting the officers of the 
customs in retaining the custody thereof. 

Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That the jurisdiction of the 
circuit courts of the United States shall extend to all cases, in law 
or equity, arising under the revenue laws of the United States, for 
which other provisions are not already made by law; and if any 
person shall receive any injury to his person or property for or on 
account of any act by him done, under any law of the United 
States, for the protection of the revenue or the collection of duties 
on imports, he shall be entitled to maintain suit for damage there- 
for in the circuit court of the United States in the district wherein 
the party doing the injury may reside, or shall be found. And 
all property taken or detained by any officer or other person under 
authority of any revenue law of the United States, shall be irre- 
pleviable, and shall be deemed to be in the custody of the law, 
and subject only to the orders and decrees of the courts of the 
United States having jurisdiction thereof. And if any person 
shall dispossess or rescue, or attempt to dispossess or rescue, 
any property so taken or detained as aforesaid, or shall aid or 
assist therein, such person shall be deemed guilty of a misde- 
meanour, and shall be liable to such punishment as is provided 
by the twenty-second section of the act . . . [of April 30, 1790]* 

1 U. S. Stat, at Large, I., 112, 117. — Ed. 



1833] ACT FOR ENFORCING THE TARIFF 343 

. . . , for the wilful obstruction or resistance of ofl&cers in the 
service of process. 

[Sections 3 and 4 provide for the transfer to United States 
circuit courts, and trial there, of cases in State courts under the 
revenue laws.] 

Sec. 5. And be it further enacted, That whenever the Presi- 
dent of the United States shall be officially informed, by the 
authorities of any state, or by a judge of any circuit or district 
court of the United States, in the state, that, within the limits of 
such state, any law or laws of the United States, or the execution 
thereof, or of any process from the courts of the United States, is 
obstructed by the employment of military force, or by any other 
unlawful means, too great to be overcome by the ordinary course 
of judicial proceeding, or by the powers vested in the marshal by 
existing laws, it shall be lawful for him, the President of the 
United States, forthwith to issue his proclamation, declaring such 
fact or information, and requiring all such military and other force 
forthwith to disperse ; and if at any time after issuing such proc- 
lamation, any such opposition or obstruction shall be made, in 
the manner or by the means aforesaid, the President shall be, and 
hereby is, authorized, promptly to employ such means to suppress 
the same, and to cause the said laws or process to be duly exe- 
cuted, as are authorized and provided in the cases therein men- 
tioned by . . . [certain military acts of February 28, 1795, and 
March 3, 1807.^] 

Sec. 7. And be it further enacted, That either of the justices 
of the Supreme Court, or a judge of any district court of the 
United States, in addition to the authority already conferred by 
law, shall have power to grant writs of habeas corpus in all cases 
of a prisoner or prisoners, in jail or confinement, where he or 
they shall be committed or confined on, or by any authority or 
law, for any act done, or omitted to be done, in pursuance of a 
law of the United States, or any order, process, or decree, of any 
judge or court thereof, any thing in any act of Congress to the 
contrary notwithstanding. . . . 

Sec. 8. And be it further enacted, That the several provisions 
contained in the first and fifth sections of this act, shall be in 
force until the end of the next session of Congress, and no longer. 

' U. S. Stat, at Large, I., 424, 425, and II., 443. — Ed. 



344 REMOVAL OF THE DEPOSITS [Sept. i8 



Removal of the Deposits 

September, 1833 

By the bank charter act the immediate control of the public deposits was 
vested in the Secretary of the Treasury, with the further provision that, in 
case of their removal from the bank, the reasons therefor should be laid be- 
fore Congress. The removal of the deposits seems to have been discussed 
in administration circles soon after Jackson's second election; reports, how- 
ever, did not become current until July, 1833. I" May the Secretary of the 
Treasury, McLane, having declined to order the removal, was transferred 
to the Department of State, and Duane appointed in his place. September 
18 Jackson read to the Cabinet an elaborate paper, drafted by Taney, the 
Attorney-General, setting forth at length his reasons for deciding upon the 
removal of the deposits after Oct. i. Although Duane was opposed to the 
bank, he "refused to give the order and refused to resign"; Sept. 23 he was 
dismissed, and Taney became Secretary of the Treasury. In the meantime 
Amos Kendall, a member of the "Kitchen Cabinet," had been sent to visit 
a number of eastern cities and arrange with State banks to receive the pub- 
lic deposits. The first orders for removal were issued by Taney Sept. 26, 
and designated the Girard Bank of Philadelphia as a place of deposit. In 
October the Maine Bank of Portland and the Franklin Bank of Cincinnati 
were similarly designated. 

References. — Text of the paper read to the Cabinet in Niles^s Register, 
XLV., 73-77; it is also in the Cong. Globe, 1833-35, ^-i PP- 59-^2 ; of the 
correspondence relative to the removal of the deposits, in Senate Doc. 2, 23d 
Cong., ist Sess., pp. 32-36. The removal of the deposits was the principal 
subject of debate in the session of Congress which met Dec. 2, 1833. Nu- 
merous documents are collected in Niles's Register, XLV., XLVI. 



No. 88. Jackson's Paper read to the 
Cabinet 

September 18, 1833 

Having carefully and anxiously considered all the facts and 
arguments, which have been submitted to him, relative to a removal 
of the public deposites from the bank of the United States, the 
president deems it his duty, to communicate in this manner to his 
cabinet the final conclusions of his own mind, and the reasons on 
which they are founded, in order to put them in durable form, and 
to prevent misconceptions. 



1833] PAPER READ TO THE CABINET 345 

[The paper then reviews the controversy with the bank, and 
particularly the efforts to obtain a renewal of the charter, and 
continues:] 

The power of the secretary of the treasury over the deposites is 
unqualified. The provision that he shall report his reasons to 
congress, is no limitation. Had it not been inserted, he would 
have been responsible to congress, had he made a removal for any 
other than good reasons, and his responsibility now ceases, upon 
the rendition of sufficient ones to congress. The only object of 
the provision, is to make his reasons accessible to congress, and 
enable that body the more readily to judge of their soundness 
and purity, and thereupon to make such further provision by law 
as the legislative power may think proper in relation to the deposite 
of the public money. Those reasons may be very diversified. It 
was asserted by the secretary of the treasury without contradiction, 
as early as 1817, that he had power "to control the proceedings" 
of the bank of the United States at any moment, "by changing 
the deposites to the state banks," should it pursue an illiberal 
course towards those institutions; that "the secretary of the treas- 
ury will always be disposed to support the credit of the state banks, 
and will invariably direct transfers from the deposites of the public 
money in aid of their legitimate exertions to maintain their credit," 
and he asserted a right to employ the state banks when the bank 
of the United States should refuse to receive on deposite the notes 
of such state banks as the public interest required should be 
received in payment of the public dues. In several instances he 
did transfer the public deposites to state banks, in the immediate 
vicinity of branches, for reasons connected only with the safety 
of those banks, the public convenience and the interests of the 
treasury. 

If it was lawful for Mr. Crawford, the secretary of the treasury 
at that time, to act on these principles, it will be difficult to dis- 
cover any sound reason against the application of similar principles 
in still stronger cases. And it is a matter of surprise that a power 
which, in the infancy of the bank, was freely asserted as one of the 
ordinary and familiar duties of the secretary of the treasury, should 
now be gravely questioned, and attempts made to excite and alarm 
the public mind as if some new and unheardof power was about 
to be usurped by the executive branch of the government. 



346 REMOVAL OF THE DEPOSITS [Sept. i& 

It is but a little more than two and a half years to the termina- 
tion of the charter of the present bank. It is considered as the 
decision of the country that it shall then cease to exist, and no 
man, the president believes, has reasonable ground for expectation 
that any other bank of the United States will be created by Con- 
gress. ... It is obvious that any new system which may be 
substituted in the place of the bank of the United States, could not 
be suddenly carried into effect on the termination of its existence 
without serious inconvenience to the government and the people. 
Its vast amount of notes are then to be redeemed and with- 
drawn from circulation, and its immense debt collected. These 
operations must be gradual, otherwise rnxuch suffering and distress 
will be brought upon the community. It ought to be not a work of 
months only, but of years, and the president thinks it cannot,, with 
due attention to the interests of the people, be longer postponed. 
It is safer to begin it too soon than to delay it too long. 

It is for the wisdom of Congress to decide upon the best substi- 
tute to be adopted in the place of the bank of the United States; 
and the president would have felt himself relieved from a heavy and 
painful responsibility if in the charter of the bank, congress had 
reserved to itself the power of directing at its pleasure, the public 
money to be elsewhere deposited, and had not devolved that 
power exclusively on one of the executive departments. . . . But 
as the president presumes that the charter to the bank is to be 
considered as a contract on the part of the government, it is not 
now in the power of congress to disregard its stipulations ; and by 
the terms of that contract the public money is to be deposited in 
the bank, during the continuance of its charter, unless the secretary 
of the treasury shall otherwise direct. . . . 

The responsibility is thus thrown upon the executive branch of 
the government, of deciding how long before the expiration of the 
charter, the public interests will require the deposites to be placed 
elsewhere. . . . and it being the duty of one of the executive 
departments to decide in the first instance, subject to the future 
action of the legislative power, whether the public deposites shall 
remain in the bank of the United States until the end of its exist- 
ence, or be withdrawn some time before, the president has felt 
himself bound to examine the question carefully and deliberately 
in order to make up his judgment on the subject: and in his 



1833] PAPER READ TO THE CABINET 347 

opinion the near approach of the termination of the charter, and 
the public considerations heretofore mentioned, are of themselves 
amply sufficient to justify the removal of thedeposites without refer- 
ence to the conduct of the bank, or their safety in its keeping. . . . 
[An examination of the charges against the bank follows.] 
It has been alleged by some as an objection to the removal of 
the deposites, that the bank has the power, and in that event will 
have the disposition, to destroy the state banks employed by the 
government, and bring distress upon the country. It has been 
the fortune of the president to encounter dangers which were 
represented as equally alarming, and he has seen them vanish 
before resolution and energy. . . , The president verily believes 
the bank has not the power to produce the calamities its friends 
threaten. The funds of the government will not be annihilated by 
being transferred. They will immediately be issued for the benefit 
of trade, and if the bank of the United States curtails its loans, 
the state banks, strengthened by the public deposites, will extend 
theirs. What comes in through one bank, will go out through 
others, and the equiUbrium will be preserved. Should the bank, 
for the mere purpose of producing distress, press its debtors more 
heavily than some of them can bear, the consequences will recoil 
upon itself, and in the attempts to embarrass the country, it will 
only bring loss and ruin upon the holders of its own stock. But if 
the president believed the bank possessed all the power which has 
been attributed to it, his determination would only be rendered the 
more inflexible. If, indeed, this corporation now holds in its 
hands the happiness and prosperity of the American people, it is 
high time to take the alarm. If the despotism be already upon us, 
and our only safety is in the mercy of the despot, recent develop- 
ments in relation to his designs and the means he employs, show 
how necessary it is to shake it off. The struggle can never come 
with less distress to the people, or under more favorable auspices 
than at the present moment. 

All doubts as to the willingness of state banks to undertake the 
service of the government, to the same extent, and on the same 
terms, as it is now performed by the banks [bank] of the United 
States, is put to rest by the report of the agent recently employed 
to collect information; and from that willingness, their own 'safety 
in the operation may be confidently inferred. . . . 



348 REMOVAL OF THE DEPOSITS [Sept. 18 

From all these considerations the president thinks that the 
state banks ought immediately to be employed in the collection 
and disbursement of the public revenue, and the funds now in 
the bank of the United States drawn out with all convenient 
despatch. . . . 

In conclusion the president must be permitted to remark that he 
looks upon the pending question as of higher consideration than the 
mere transfer of a sum of money from one bank to another. Its 
decision may affect the character of our government for ages to 
come. . . . Viewing it as a question of transcendant importance, 
both in the principles and consequences it involves, the president 
could not, in justice to the responsibility which he owes to the 
country, refrain from pressing upon the secretary of the treasury, 
his view of the considerations which impel to immediate action. 
Upon him has been devolved by the constitution and the suffrages 
of the American people, the duty of superintending the operation 
of the executive departments of the government, and seeing that 
the laws are faithfully executed. In the performance of this high 
trust, it is his undoubted right to express to those whom the laws 
and his own choice have made his associates in the administration 
of the government, his opinion of their duties under circumstances 
as they arise. It is this right which he now exercises. Far be it 
from him to expect or require, that any member of the cabinet 
should at his request, order or dictation, do any act which he 
believes unlawful, or in his conscience condemns. From them 
and from his fellow citizens in general, he desires only that aid 
and support, which their reason approves and their conscience 
sanctions. 

In the remarks he has made on this all important question, 
he trusts the secretary of the treasury will see only the frank 
and respectful declarations of the opinions which the president 
has formed on a measure of great national interest, deeply affecting 
the character and usefulness of his administration; and not a 
spirit of dictation, which the president would be as careful to 
avoid, as ready to resist. Happy will he be, if the facts now dis- 
closed produce uniformity of opinion and unity of action among 
the members of the administration. 

The president again repeats that he begs his cabinet to con- 



1833] TANEY'S INSTRUCTIONS 349 

sider the proposed measure as his own, in the support of which he 
shall require no one of them to make a sacrifice of opinion or 
principle. Its responsibility has been assumed, after the most 
mature deliberation and reflection, as necessary to preserve the 
morals of the people, the freedom of the press and the purity of 
the elective franchise, without which all will unite in saying that 
the blood and treasure expended by our forefathers in the estab- 
lishment of our happy system of government will have been vain 
and fruitless. Under these convictions, he feels that a measure 
so important to the American people cannot be commenced too 
soon ; and he therefore names the first day of October next, as a 
period proper for the change of the deposites, or sooner, provided 
the necessary arrangements with the state banks can be made. 



No. 89. Taney's Instructions to the Col- 
lector at Philadelphia 

September 26, 1833 

Treasury Department, 

September 26, 1833. 

Sir: Believing that the public interest requires that the Bank 
of the United States should cease to be the depository of the 
money of the United States, I have determined to use the State 
banks as places of deposites ; and have selected for that purpose, 
in the city of Philadelphia, the Girard Bank. 

You will, therefore, present the enclosed draft of a contract to 
that bank; and, upon the execution of the contract, you will 
forward it to this department. You will ask the aid of the District 
Attorney of the United States, who will see that the contract is 
executed in due form under the corporate seal. The contract 
being executed, you will then deposite all of the public money 
which may come to your hands after the thirtieth day of this 
present month of September, in the bank above mentioned, until 
the further order of this department. You will also deposite in 
the said bank, for collection, all the bonds which may hereafter 
be taken for the payment of duties. 

You will also call on the Bank of the United States at Philadel- 



35© REMOVAL OF THE DEPOSITS [Sept. 26 

phia, and receive from it all bonds hereafter given to the United 
States, v^^hich are payable on or after the first day of October 
next, and deposite them for collection in the aforesaid State bank. 
I send you, herewith, an order on the Bank of the United States 
for that purpose. 

When the contract shall have been executed by the State bank, 
you will forward the enclosed letters to the collectors, at Bridge- 
town, Burlington, Great Egg harbor, and Little Egg harbor, who 
have heretofore deposited the money received by them in the 
Bank of the United States. 

You will continue to deposite as usual, in the Bank of the United 
States, until the thirtieth of this present month of September, 
inclusive. 

You will keep a copy of the contract executed by the bank, 
and, from time to time, advise this department of any thing you 
may deem material to the public interest, connected with the 
change of the deposites. 

Your obedient servant, 

R. B. Taney, 
Secretary of the Treasury. 
To James N. Barker, Esq., 

Collector, Philadelphia. 



No. 90. Taney to the Girard Bank 

September 26, 1833 

Treasury Department, 

September 26, 1833. 

Sir: The Girard Bank has been selected by this department as 
the depository of the public money collected in Philadelphia and 
its vicinity; and the collector at Philadelphia will hand you the 
form of a contract proposed to be executed, with a copy of his 
instructions from this department. 

In selecting your institution as one of the fiscal agents of the 
Government, I not only rely on its solidity and established char- 
acter, as affording a sufficient guaranty for the safety of the public 
money intrusted to its keeping; but I confide also in its disposi- 



1833] TANEY'S INSTRUCTIONS 35 1 

tion to adopt the most liberal course, which circumstances will 
admit, towards other moneyed institutions generally, and particu- 
larly to those in the city of Philadelphia. 

The deposites of public money will enable you to afford increased 
facilities to commerce, and to extend your accomodation to indi- 
viduals ; and as the duties which are payable to the Government 
arise from the business and enterprise of the merchants engaged 
in foreign trade, it is but reasonable that they should be preferred 
in the additional accommodation which the public deposites will 
enable your institution to give, whenever it can be done without 
injustice to the claims of other classes of the community, 

I am, very respectfully, 

Your obedient servant, 
R. B. Taney, 
Secretary of Treasury. 

To the President of the Girard Bank, 

Philadelphia. 



No. 91. Taney to the Bank of the United 

States 

September 26, 1833 

Treasury Department, 

September 26, 1833. 
Sir: You will deliver to the collector at Philadelphia all bonds 
to the United States, payable on or after the first of October next, 
which may be in your possession on the receipt of this order. 

I am, very respectfully, 

Your obedient servant, 
R. B. Taney, 
Secretary of the Treasury. 

Nicholas Biddle, Esq., 
President of the Bank of the United States, Philadelphia. 



352 REMOVAL OF THE DEPOSITS [Sept. 28 

No. 92. Contract between the Girard Bank 
and the United States 

September 28, 1833 

I St. The said bank agrees to receive, and enter to the credit of 
the Treasurer of the United States, all sums of money offered to 
be deposited on account of the United States, whether offered in 
gold or silver coin, in notes of the Bank of the United States or 
branches, in notes of any bank which are convertible into coin in 
its immediate vicinity, or in notes of any bank which it is, for the 
time being, in the habit of receiving. 

2. If the deposite in said bank shall exceed one-half of its capi- 
tal stock actually paid in, it is agreed that collateral security, sat- 
isfactory to the Secretary of the Treasury, shall be given for its 
safe keeping and faithful disbursement : Provided, that, if the said 
Secretary shall at any time deem it necessary, the bank agrees to 
give collateral security when the deposite shall not equal one-half 
the capital. 

3. The said bank agrees to make weekly returns of its entire 
condition to the Secretary of the Treasury, and to the Treasurer 
of the United States of the state of his account, and to submit its 
books and transactions to a critical examination by the Secretary, 
or any agent duly authorized by him, whenever he shall require it. 

This examination may extend to all the books and accounts, to 
the cash on hand, and to all the acts and concerns of the bank, 
except the current accounts of individuals; or as far as is admis- 
sible without a violation of the bank charter. 

4. The said bank agrees to pay, out of the deposite on hand, all 
warrants or drafts which may be drawn upon it by the Treasurer 
of the United States, and to transfer any portion of that deposite 
to any other bank or banks employed by the Government within 
the United States, whenever the Secretary of the Treasury may 
require it, without charge to the Government for transportation or 
difference of exchange, commission, or any thing else whatever; 
but the Secretary of the Treasury shall give a reasonable notice of 
the time when such transfer will be required. 

5. The said bank agrees to render to the Government, when- 



1833] AMERICAN ANTI-SLAVERY SOCIETY 353 

ever required by the proper authority, all or any portion of the 
services now performed by the Bank of the United States, or 
which might be lawfully required of it in the vicinity of said con- 
tracting bank. 

6. If the Secretary of the Treasury shall think proper to employ 
an agent or agents to examine and report upon the accounts and 
condition of the banks in the service of the Government, or any. 
of them, the said bank agrees to pay an equitable proportion of 
his or their expenses and compensation, according to such appor- 
tionment as may be made by the said Secretary. 

7. Whenever required by the Secretary of the Treasury, the 
said bank agrees to furnish, with all convenient despatch, bills of 
exchange on London, payable at such sight as may be required, 
at the usual market price for the time being, without commission 
or advance for the profit of said bank, or any charge whatsoever 
beyond the actual cost ; the payment of said bills to be guaranteed 
by said bank. 

8. It is agreed that the Secretary of the Treasury may discharge 
the said bank from the service of the Government whenever, in his 
opinion, the public interest may require it. In witness whereof, the 
said The Girard Bank in the city of Philadelphia, has caused to be 
affixed its corporate seal, attested by the signatures of its president 
and cashier, on the day and year first above written. 

[l.s.] Jas. Schott, President. 

Wm. D. Lewis, Cashier. 



No. 93. Constitution of the American 
Anti-Slavery Society 

December 4, 1833 

A CALL for a convention to meet Dec. 4, 1833, at Philadelphia, to form an 
American Anti-Slavery Society, was issued Oct. 29 over the signatures of 
Arthur Tappan, Joshua Leavitt, and Elizur Wright, Jr., officers of the New- 
York City Anti-Slavery Society. About si.xty delegates assembled at the 
appointed time and adopted a constitution, together with a "Declaration of 
Sentiments," the original draft of the latter being drawn by William Lloyd 
Garrison. 



354 AMERICAN ANTI-SLAVERY SOCIETY [Dec. 4 

References. — Text in a pamphlet entitled Platform of the American 
Anti-Slavery Society and its Auxiliaries (New York, 1855), pp. 3, 4. The 
fullest account of the convention is in William Lloyd Garrison: Story of his 
Life told by his Children, I., 392-415, where is also a copy of the Declaration. 
The Declaration is also in the pamphlet above cited. For Whittier's account, 
see Atlantic Monthly, XXXIII. , 166-172 (February, 1874). 

. Whereas the Most High God "hath made of one blood all 
nations of men to dwell on all the face of the earth," and hath 
commanded them to love their neighbors as themselves; and 
whereas, our National Existence is based upon this principle, as 
recognized in the Declaration of Independence, "that all mankind 
are created equal, and that they are endowed by their Creator 
with certain inalienable rights, among which are life, liberty, and 
the pursuit of happiness " ; and whereas, after the lapse of nearly 
sixty years, since the faith and honor of the American people were 
pledged to this avowal, before Almighty God and the World, nearly 
one-sixth part of the nation are held in bondage by their fellow- 
citizens; and whereas. Slavery is contrary to the principles of 
natural justice, of our republican form of government, and of the 
Christian religion, and is destructive of the prosperity of the 
country, while it is endangering the peace, union, and liberties of 
the States ; and whereas, we believe it the duty and interest of the 
masters immediately to emancipate their slaves, and that no scheme 
of expatriation, either voluntary or by compulsion, can remove this 
great and increasing evil ; and whereas, we believe that it is prac- 
ticable, by appeals to the consciences, hearts, and interests of the 
people, to awaken a public sentiment throughout the nation that 
will be opposed to the continuance of Slavery in any part of the 
Republic, and by effecting the speedy abolition of Slavery, prevent 
a general convulsion; and whereas, we believe we owe it to the 
oppressed, to our fellow-citizens who hold slaves, to our whole 
country, to posterity, and to God, to do all that is lawfully in our 
power to bring about the extinction of Slavery, we do hereby agree, 
with a prayerful reliance on the Divine aid, to form ourselves into 
a society, to be governed by the following Constitution : — 

Article I. — This Society shall be called the American Anti- 
Slavery Society. 

Article II. — The objects of this Society are the entire aboli- 
tion of Slavcrv in the United States. While it admits that each 



1836] ACT to REGULATE THE DEPOSITS 355 

State, in which Slavery exists, has, by the Constitution of the 
United States, the exclusive right to legislate in regard to its 
Abolition in said State, it shall aim to convince all our fellow- 
citizens, by arguments addressed to their understandings and con- 
sciences, that Slaveholding is a heinous crime in the sight of God, 
and that the duty, safety, and best interests of all concerned, 
require its immediate abandonment, without expatriation. The 
Society will also endeavor, in a constitutional way, to influence 
Congress to put an end to the domestic Slave trade, and to abolish 
Slavery in all those portions of our common country which come 
under its control, especially in the District of Columbia, — and 
likewise to prevent the extension of it to any State that may be 
hereafter admitted to the Union. 

Article III. — This Society shall aim to elevate the character 
and condition of the people of color, by encouraging their intel- 
lectual, moral, and religious improvement, and by removing public 
prejudice, that thus they may, according to their intellectual and 
moral worth, share an equality with the whites, of civil and religious 
privileges; but this Society will never, in any way, countenance 
the oppressed in vindicating their rights by resorting to physical 
force. 

Article IV. — Any person who consents to the principles of 
this Constitution, who contributes to the funds of this Society, and 
is not a Slaveholder, may be a member of this Society, and shall 
be entitled to vote at the meetings. 

[The remaining six articles are purely formal.] 



No. 94. Act to Regulate the Deposits 

June 23, 1836 

In his annual message of Dec. 7, 1835, Jackson announced the extinguish- 
ment of the national debt, and renewed the recommendation contained in his 
annual message of Dec. 2, 1834, that suitable regulation of the public deposits 
be made. In the Senate, Dec. 29, Calhoun brought in a bill for that purpose, 
together with a joint resolution "proposing an amendment to the Constitu- 
tion, providing for a distribution of the surplus revenues among the several 
States and Territories, until the year 1843." The joint resolution was laid 
on the table March 4. The bill to regulate the deposits was taken up April 



356 ACT TO REGULATE THE DEPOSITS [June 23 

21, and debated at intervals until June 17, when, with an amendment pro- 
viding for the distribution of the surplus revenue among the States, it passed 
by a vote of 39 to 6. The House passed the bill on the 21st, by a vote of 
155 to 38, with an amendment making the distributed revenue a loan to the 
States, instead of a gift. In each house attempts to divide the measure were 
unsuccessful. The Senate concurred in the House amendment, and June 23 
the act was approved. A bill for regulating the deposits had been introduced 
in the House March 21, but repeated efforts to secure its consideration failed. 
A supplementary act of July 4 authorized the Secretary of the Treasury to 
make transfers of the public money from the banks of one State to those of 
another, whenever necessary "to prevent large and inconvenient accumu- 
lations in particular places, or in order to produce a due equality and just 
proportion." Quarterly payments under the act were made in January, 
April, and July, 1837, to the amount of $28,000,000; after that there was no 
longer a surplus, and the distribution ceased. The money thus loaned to the 
States was never recalled. 

References. — Text in U . S. Stat, at Large, V., 52-56. For the proceed- 
ings, see the House and Senate Journals, 24th Cong., ist Sess. ; for the discus- 
sions, see Cong. Debates, or Cong. Globe, or Benton's Abridgment, XII. Web- 
ster's speech of March 17, on the deposit banks, is in his Works (ed. 1857), 
IV., 235-237; speech of May 31, on the surplus revenue, ib., IV., 252-264. 
For Calhoun's speech of May 28, on the regulation of the deposits, see his 
Works (ed. 1857), II., 534-569. The treatment of the surplus and public 
deposits was discussed in the annual report of the Secretary of the Treasury, 
Dec. 6, 1836. Jackson, in his annual message of Dec. 5, criticised the de- 
posit act at length. See further Bourne's History of the Surplus Revenue of 
1837- 

An Act to regulate the deposites of the public money. 

Be it enacted . . . , That it shall be the duty of the Secretary 
of the Treasury to select as soon as may be practicable and employ 
as the depositories of the money of the United States, such of the 
banks incorporated by the several States, by Congress for the Dis- 
trict of Columbia, or by the Legislative Councils of the respective 
Territories for those Territories, as may be located at, adjacent 
or convenient to the points or places at which the revenues may be 
collected, or disbursed, and in those States, Territories or Dis- 
tricts in which there are no banks, and within which the public 
collections or disbursements require a depository, the said Sec- 
retary may make arrangements with a bank or banks, in some 
other State, Territory or District, to establish an agency, or agencies, 
in the States, Territories or Districts so destitute of banks, as banks 
of deposite; and to receive through such agencies such deposites 
of the public money, as may be directed to be made at the points 



1836] ACT TO REGULATE THE DEPOSITS 357 

designated, and to make such disbursements as the public service 
may require at those points; the duties and Habilities of every 
bank thus estabUshing any such agency to be the same in respect 
to its agency, as are the duties and liabilities of deposit banks 
generally under the provisions of this act : Provided, That at least 
one such bank shall be selected in each State and Territory, if 
any can be found in each State and Territory willing to be em- 
ployed as depositories of the public money, upon the terms and 
conditions hereinafter prescribed, and continue to conform thereto ; 
and that the Secretary of the Treasury shall not suffer to remain 
in any deposite bank, an amount of the public moneys more 
than equal to three-fourths of the amount of its capital stock 
actually paid in, for a longer time than may be necessary to enable 
him to make the transfers required by the twelfth section of this 
act; and that the banks so selected, shall be, in his opinion, safe 
depositories of the public money, and shall be willing to undertake 
to do and perform the several duties and services, and to conform 
to the several conditions proscribed by this act. 

Sec. 4. And he it further enacted, That the said banks, before 
they shall be employed as the depositories of the public money, 
shall agree to receive the same, upon the following terms and 
conditions, to wit: 

First. Each bank shall furnish to the Secretary of the Treasury, 
from time to time, as often as he may require, not exceeding once 
a week, statements setting forth its condition and business . . . 
And the said banks shall furnish to the Secretary of the Treasury, 
and to the Treasurer of the United States, a weekly statement of 
the condition of his account upon their books. And the Secretary 
of the Treasury shall have the right, by himself, or an agent ap- 
pointed for that purpose, to inspect such general accounts in the 
books of the bank, as shall relate to the said statements: Pro- 
vided, That this shall not be construed to imply a right of inspecting 
the account of any private individual or individuals with the bank. 

Secondly. To credit as specie, all sums deposited therein to 
the credit of the Treasurer of the United States, and to pay all 
checks, warrants, or drafts, drawn on such deposites, in specie if 
required by the holder thereof. 

Thirdly. To give, whenever required by the Secretary of the 



35^ SURPLUS REVENUE [June 23 

Treasury, the necessary facilities for transferring the public funds 
from place to place, within the United States, and the Territories 
thereof, and for distributing the same in payment of the public 
creditors, without charging commissions or claiming allowance on 
account of difference of exchange. 

Fourthly. To render to the Government of the United States 
all the duties and services heretofore required by law to be per- 
formed by the late Bank of the United States and its several 
branches or offices. 

Sec. 5. A nd be it further enacted, That no bank shall be selected 
or continued as a place of deposite of the public money which 
shall not redeem its notes and bills on demand in specie. . . . 



Sec. 13. And be it further enacted, That the money which 
shall be in the Treasury of the United States, on . . . [January i, 
1837], . . . , reserving the sum of five millions of dollars, shall be 
deposited with such of the several States, in proportion to their 
respective representation in the Senate and House of Representa- 
tives of the United States, as shall, by law, authorize their Treas- 
urers, or other competent authorities to receive the same on the 
terms hereinafter specified; . . . which certificates shall express 
the usual and legal obligations, and pledge the faith of the State, 
for the safe keeping and repayment thereof, and shall pledge 
the faith of the States receiving the same, to pay the said moneys, 
and every part thereof, from time to time, whenever the same 
shall be required, by the Secretary of the Treasury, for the pur- 
pose of defraying any wants of the public treasury, beyond the 
amount of the five millions aforesaid: . . . provided . . . , That 
when said money, or any part thereof, shall be wanted by the said 
Secretary, to meet appropriations by law, the same shall be called 
for, in rateable proportions, within one year, as nearly as con- 
veniently may be, from the different States, with which the same 
is deposited, and shall not be called for, in sums exceeding ten 
thousand dollars, from any one State, in any one month, without 
previous notice of thirty days, for every additional sum of twenty 
thousand dollars, which may at any time be required. 

Sec. 14. And be it further enacted, That the said deposites shall 
be made with the said States in the following proportions, and at 



1836] SPECIE CIRCULAR 359 

the following times, to wit : one quarter part on . . . [January i, 
1837], ... or as soon thereafter as may be; one quarter part 
on the first day of April, one quarter part on the first day of July, 
and one quarter part on the first day of October, all in the same 
year. 



No. 95. Specie Circular 

July II, 1836 

One effect of the speculative fever which began early in 1835 '^^^ an 
enormous increase in the sales of the public lands. By law, payments for 
lands could be made only in gold and silver, or in notes of specie paying 
banks; but a large part of the payments was in fact made in State bank notes, 
which in the West had largely driven specie out of circulation. The United 
States thus found that the public domain was being disposed of for a currency 
of doubtful or more than doubtful value. The subject of the coinage had 
been before Congress since 1834, and Jackson had declared himself in favor 
of gold and silver as the "true constitutional currency." April 23, 1836, 
Benton moved that thereafter "nothing but gold and silver coin ought to be 
received in payment for public lands." The motion was tabled, and the ses- 
sion ended without action. July 11, by direction of the President, the so- 
called specie circular was issued. An inquiry into the effect of the circular was 
moved by Benton Jan. 12, 1837, and a bill "designating and limiting the 
funds receivable for the revenues of the United States" passed the Senate 
Feb. 10, by a vote of 41 to 5, and the House March i, without a division, 
but was vetoed by the President. By a joint resolution approved May 21, 
1838, it was declared unlawful for the Secretary of the Treasury "to make 
or to continue in force, any general order, which shall create any difference 
between the different branches of revenue, as to the money or medium 
of payment, in which debts or dues, accruing to the United States, may 
be paid." 

References. — Text in Senate Doc. 2, 24th Cong., 2d Sess., p. 96. The 
reasons for the circular were discussed by Jackson in his annual message 
of Dec. 5, 1836. Wright's report of May 16, 1838, is Senate Doc. 445, 25th 
Cong., 2d Sess. Webster's speech of April 23, 1836, on Benton's motion, 
is in his Works (ed. 1857), IV., 238-246; for his speech of Dec. 21 on the 
circular, ib., IV. ,'265-291. See also Benton's Thirty Years' View, I., chaps. 
146, 156. Jackson's statement of reasons for not signing the bill of 1837, 
with an accompanying opinion of the Attorney-General, is in Niles's Register, 
LII., 26, 27. 



360 SPECIE CIRCULAR [July 11 

Circular to Receivers of Public Money, and to the Deposite Banks 

Treasury Department, July 11, 1836 

In consequence of complaints which have been made of frauds, 
speculations, and monopolies, in the purchase of the public lands, 
and the aid which is said to be given to effect these objects by 
excessive bank credits, and dangerous if not partial facilities 
through bank drafts and bank deposites, and the general evil influ- 
ence likely to result to the public interests, and especially the 
safety of the great amount of money in the Treasury, and the 
sound condition of the currency of the country, from the further 
exchange of the national domain in this manner, the President of 
the United States has given directions, and you are hereby in- 
structed, after the 15th day of August next, to receive in payment 
of the public lands nothing except what is directed by the existing 
laws, viz: gold and silver, and in the proper cases, Virginia land 
scrip; provided that till the 15th of December next, the same 
indulgences heretofore extended as to the kind of money re- 
ceived, may be continued for any quantity of land not exceeding 
320 acres to each purchaser who is an actual settler or bona fide 
resident in the State where the sales are made. 

In order to ensure the faithful execution of these instructions, 
all receivers are strictly prohibited from accepting for land sold, 
any draft, certificate, or other evidence of money, or deposite, 
though for specie, unless signed by the Treasurer of the United 
States, in conformity to the act of April 24, 1820. . . . 

The principal objects of the President in adopting this measure 
being to repress alleged frauds, and to withhold any countenance 
or facilities in the power of the Government from the monopoly 
of the public lands in the hands of speculators and capitalists, to 
the injury of the actual settlers in the new States, and of emigrants 
in search of new homes, as well as to discourage the ruinous 
extension of bank issues, and bank credits, by which those results 
are generally supposed to be promoted, your utmost vigilance 
is required, and relied on, to carry this order into complete 
execution. 

Levi Woodbury, 
Secretary 0/ the Treasury. 



1842] ASHBURTON TREATY 361 



No. 96. Treaty with Great Britain 

August 9, 1842 

The determination of the northeastern boundary of the United States, 
first defined by the treaty of 1783, had been the subject of frequent diplo- 
matic correspondence and international agreements. So much of the boun- 
dary as had to do with the St. Croix River and its source had been fixed by 
commissioners under the treaty of 1794, but the claims to the "highlands" 
were still unsettled. In 183 1 the award of the king of the Netherlands, under 
the convention of 1827, had been rejected by both Great Britain and the 
United States. "In 1838-9 the territory between New Brunswick and 
Maine, claimed by both parties, became the scene of a small border war. 
Maine raised an armed posse, erected forts along the line which she claimed 
as the true one, and the legislature placed $800,000 at the governor's dis- 
posal for the defence of the State; an act of Congress, March 3, 1839, author- 
ized the President to resist any attempt of Great Britain to enforce exclusive 
jurisdiction over the disputed territory, and armed conflict was only averted 
by the mediation of Gen. Scott, who arranged a truce and a joint occupation 
by both parties" (Johnston). In addition to the question of boundary, 
differences had also arisen between the two countries over the attempted 
participation of Americans in the Canadian rebellion of 1837, and in regard 
to the suppression of the slave trade. Early in 1842 Lord Ashburton was 
sent to the United States as special envoy, and Aug. 9 the treaty usually 
known by his name was concluded. October 13 ratifications were exchanged 
at London, and Nov. 10 the treaty was proclaimed. By act of March 3, 
1843, provision was made for carrying the treaty into effect. 

References. — • Text in U. S. Stat, at Large, VIII., 572-577. The diplo- 
matic correspondence, including that with Maine and New Hampshire, is 
in House Exec. Doc. 2, 27th Cong., 3d Sess.; also Cong. Globe, 4-21. The 
treaty was adversely criticised in Congress in 1846, in the discussions over 
the treaty of Washington ; Webster's speech of April 6 and 7 gives a full 
account of the negotiations. The speech is in the Cong. Globe, 29th Cong., 
ist Sess., and also Webster's Works (ed. 1857), V., 78-147. Calhoun's 
speech on the treaty is in his Works (ed. 1854), IV., 212-237. Contrasted 
English views may be seen in the Quarterly Rev., LXXL, 560-595, and 
Westm. Rev., XXXIX., 83-107. See also Wharton's Intern. Law Digest 
(ed. 1887), II., 175-183; Senate Doc, 500, 27th Cong., 2d Sess. The act 
of March 3, 1843, to carry the treaty into effect is in U. S. Stat, at Large, V., 
623. 

Article I. 

It is hereby agreed and declared that the line of boundary 
shall be as follows: Beginning at the monument at the source of 



302 ASHBURTON TREATY August 9 

the river St. Croix as designated and agreed to by the commis- 
sioners under the fifth article of the treaty of 1794, between the 
Governments of the United States and Great Britain; thence, 
north, following the exploring line run and marked by the sur- 
veyors of the two Governments in the years 181 7 and 1818, under 
the fifth article of the treaty of Ghent, to its intersection with the 
river St. John, and to the middle of the channel thereof; thence, 
up the middle of the main channel of the said river St. John, 
to the mouth of the river St. Francis; thence, up the middle of 
the channel of the said river St. Francis, and of the lakes through 
which it flows, to the outlet of the Lake Pohenagamook ; thence, 
southwesterly, in a straight line, to a point on the northwest 
branch of the river St. John, which point shall be ten miles dis- 
tant from the main branch of the St. John, in a straight line, and 
in the nearest direction — but if the said point shall be found to 
be less than seven miles from the nearest point of the summit or 
crest of the highlands that divide those rivers which empty them- 
selves into the river St. Lawrence from those which fall into 
the river St. John, then the said point shall be made to recede 
down the said northwest branch of the river St. John, to a point 
seven miles in a straight line from the said summit or crest; 
thence, in a straight line, in a course about south, eight degrees 
west, to the point where the parallel of latitude of 46° 25' north 
intersects the southwest branch of the St. John's; thence, south- 
erly, by the said branch, to the source thereof in the highlands at 
the Metjarmette portage; thence, down along the said highlands 
which divide the waters which empty themselves into the river 
St. Lawrence from those which fall into the Atlantic ocean, to 
the head of Hall's stream; thence, down the middle of said 
stream, till the line thus run intersects the old line of boundary 
surveyed and marked by Valentine and Collins, previously to the 
year 1774, as the 45th degree of north latitude, and which has 
been known and understood to be the line of actual division 
between the States of New York and Vermont on one side, and 
the British province of Canada on the other; and from said 
point of intersection, west, along the said dividing line, as here- 
tofore known and understood, to the Iroquois or St. Lawrence 
river. 



1842] ASHBURTON TREATY 363 



Article IL 

It is moreover agreed, that, from the place where the joint 
commissioners terminated their labors under the sixth article of 
the treaty of Ghent, to wit: at a point in the Neebish channel, 
near Muddy Lake, the line shall run into and along the ship 
channel between St. Joseph and St. Tammany islands, to the 
division of the channel at or near the head of St. Joseph's island ; 
thence, turning eastwardly and northwardly around the lower end 
of St. George's or Sugar island, and following the middle of the 
channel which divides St. George's from St. Joseph's island; 
thence up the east Neebish channel, nearest to St. George's 
island, through the middle of Lake George; thence, west of 
Jonas' island, into St. Mary's river, to a point in the middle of 
that river, about one mile above St. George's or Sugar island, 
so as to appropriate and assign the said island to the United 
States; thence, adopting the line traced on the maps by the 
commissioners, through the river St. Mary and Lake Superior, to a 
point north of He Royale, in said lake, one hundred yards to the 
north and east of He Chapeau, which last-mentioned island lies 
near the northeastern point of He Royale, where the line marked 
by the commissioners terminates; and from the last-mentioned 
point, southwesterly, through the middle of the sound between He 
Royale and the northwestern main land, to the mouth of Pigeon 
river, and up the said river, to and through the north and south 
Fowl Lakes, to the lakes of the height of land between Lake 
Superior and the Lake of the Woods; thence, along the water com- 
munication to Lake Saisaginaga, and through that lake; thence, 
to and through Cypress Lake, Lac du Bois Blanc, Lac la Croix, 
Little Vermilion Lake, and Lake Namecanjand through the several 
smaller lakes, straits, or streams, connecting the lakes here men- 
tioned, to that point in Lac la Pluie, or Rainy Lake, at the Chaudi- 
ere Falls, from which the commissioners traced the line to the 
most northwestern point of the Lake of the Woods; thence, 
along the said line, to the said most northwestern point, being 
in latitude 49° 23' 55'' north, and in longitude 95° 14' 38" west 
from the observatory at Greenwich ; thence, according to existing 
treaties, due south to its intersection with the 49th parallel of 



364 ASHBURTON TREATY [August 9 

north latitude, and along that parallel to the Rocky mountains. 
It being understood that all the water communications and all the 
usual portages along the line from Lake Superior to the Lake 
of the Woods, and also Grand portage, from the shore of Lake 
Superior to the Pigeon river, as now actually used, shall be free 
and open to the use of the citizens and subjects of both countries. 

Article IIL 

In order to promote the interests and encourage the industry 
of all the inhabitants of the countries watered by the river St. 
John and its tributaries, whether living within the State of Maine 
or the province of New Brunswick, it is agreed that, where, by 
the provisions of the present treaty, the river St. John is declared 
to be the line of boundary, the navigation of the said river shall 
be free and open to both parties, and shall in no way be obstructed 
by either; that all the produce of the forest, in logs, lumber, 
timber, boards, staves, or shingles, or of agriculture, not being 
manufactured, grown on any of those parts of the State of Maine 
watered by the river St. John, or by its tributaries, of which fact 
reasonable evidence shall, if required, be produced, shall have 
free access into and through the said river and its said tributaries, 
having their source within the State of Maine, to and from the 
seaport at the mouth of the said river St. John's, and to and 
round the falls of the said river, either by boats, rafts, or other 
conveyance; that when within the province of New Brunswick, 
the said produce shall be dealt with as if it were the produce 
of the said province; that, in like manner, the inhabitants of the 
territory of the upper St. John, determined by this treaty to belong 
to Her Britannic Majesty, shall have free access to and through 
the river, for their produce, in those parts where the said river 
runs wholly through the State of Maine : Provided, always, That 
this agreement shall give no right to either party to interfere with 
any regulations not inconsistent with the terms of this treaty 
which the Governments, respectively, of Maine or of New Bruns- 
wick may make respecting the navigation of the said river, where 
both banks thereof shall belong to the same party. 



1842I ASHBURTON TREATY ' 365 



Article IV. 

All grants of land heretofore made by either party, within the 
limits of the territory which by this treaty falls within the domin- 
ions of the other party, shall be held valid, ratified, and confirmed 
to the persons in possession under such grants, to the same extent 
as if such territory had by this treaty fallen within the dominions 
of the party by whom such grants were made; and all equitable 
possessory claims, arising from a possession and improvement, of 
any lot or parcel of land, by the person actually in possession, or 
by those under whom such person claims, for more than six years 
before the date of this treaty, shall, in like manner, be deemed 
valid, and be confirmed and quieted by a release to the person 
entitled thereto, of the title to such lot or parcel of land, so de- 
scribed as best to include the improvements made thereon ; and in 
all other respects the two contracting parties agree to deal upon 
the most Hberal principles of equity with the settlers actually 
dwelling upon the territory falling to them, respectively, which has 
heretofore been in dispute between them. 

Article V. 

Whereas, in the course of the controversy respecting the disputed 
territory on the Northeastern boundary, some moneys have been 
received by the authorities of Her Britannic Majesty's province 
of New Brunswick, with the intention of preventing depredations 
on the forests of the said territory, which moneys were to be 
carried to a fund called the "disputed territory fund," the proceeds 
whereof, it was agreed, should be hereafter paid over to the parties 
interested, in the proportions to be determined by a final settle- 
ment of boundaries : It is hereby agreed, that a correct account of 
all receipts and payments on the said fund shall be delivered to 
the Government of the United States, within six months after the 
ratification of this treaty; and the proportion of the amount due 
thereon to the States of Maine and Massachusetts, and any bonds 
or securities appertaining thereto, shall be paid and delivered over 
to the Government of the United States; and the Government of 
the United States agrees to receive for the use of, and pay over 
to, the States of Maine and Massachusetts, their respective por- 



366 ASHBURTON TREATY [August 9 

lions of said fund; and further to pay and satisfy said States, 
respectively, for all claims for expenses incurred by them in pro- 
tecting the said heretofore disputed territory, and making a survey 
thereof, in 1838; the Government of the United States agreeing, 
with the States of Maine and Massachusetts, to pay them the 
further sum of three hundred thousand dollars, in equal moieties, 
on account of their assent to the line of boundary described in 
this treaty, and in consideration of the conditions and equiva- 
lents received therefor, from the Government of Her Britannic 
Majesty. 

[Art. VI. provides for the appointment of two commissioners to 
mark the boundary between the St. Croix and the St. Lawrence.] 

Article VII. 

It is further agreed, that the channels in the river St. Lawrence, 
on both sides of the Long Sault islands, and of Barnhart island; 
the channels in the river Detroit, on both sides of the island Bois 
Blanc, and between that island and both the American and Cana- 
dian shores ; and all the several channels and passages between the 
various islands lying near the junction of the river St. Clair with 
the lake of that name, shall be equally free and open to the ships, 
vessels, and boats of both parties. 

Article VIII. 

The parties mutually stipulate that each shall prepare, equip, 
and maintain in service, on the coast of Africa, a sufficient and 
adequate squadron, or naval force of vessels, of suitable numbers 
and descriptions, to carry in all not less than eighty guns, to 
enforce, separately and respectively, the laws, rights, and obliga- 
tions, of each of the two countries, for the suppression of the slave 
trade; the said squadrons to be independent of each other; but 
the two Governments stipulating, nevertheless, to give such orders 
to the officers commanding their respective forces as shall enable 
them most effectually to act in concert and co-operation, upon 
mutual consultation, as exigencies may arise, for the attainment 
of the true object of this article ; copies of all such orders to be 
communicated by each Government to the other, respectively. 



1842] ASHBURTON TREATY " 367 



Article IX. 

Whereas, notwithstanding all efforts which may be made on the 
coast of Africa for suppressing the slave trade, the facilities for 
carrying on that traffic, and avoiding the vigilance of cruisers, by 
the fraudulent use of flags and other means, are so great, and the 
temptations for pursuing it, while a market can be found for slaves, 
so strong, as that the desired result may be long delayed, unless 
all markets be shut against the purchase of African negroes ; the 
parties to this treaty agree that they will unite in all becoming 
representations and remonstrances, with any and all Powers within 
whose dominions such markets are allowed to exist ; and that they 
will urge upon all such Powers the propriety and duty of closing 
such markets effectually, at once and forever. 

Article X. 

It is agreed that the United States and Her Britannic Majesty 
shall, upon mutual requisitions by them, or their ministers, officers, 
or authorities respectively made, deliver up to justice all persons 
who, being charged with the crime of murder, or assault with 
intent to commit murder, or piracy, or arson, or robbery, or 
forgery, or the utterance of forged paper, committed within the 
jurisdiction of either, shall seek an asylum, or shall be found, within 
the territories of the other: provided that this shall only be done 
upon such evidence of criminality as according to the laws of the 
place where the fugitive or person so charged shall be found, 
would justify his apprehension and commitment for trial, if the 
crime or offence had there been committed: and the respective 
judges and other magistrates of the two Governments shall have 
power, jurisdiction, and authority, upon complaint made under 
oath, to issue a warrant for the apprehension of the fugitive or 
person so charged, that he may be brought before such judges or 
other magistrates, respectively, to the end that the evidence of 
criminality may be heard and considered; and if, on such hearing, 
the evidence be deemed sufficient to sustain the charge, it shall 
be the duty of the examining judge or magistrate to certify the 
same to the proper Executive authority, that a warrant may issue 
for the surrender of such fugitive. The expense of such appre- 



368 ANNEXATION OF TEXAS [March i 

hension and delivery shall be borne and defrayed by the party 
who makes the requisition, and receives the fugitive. 

Article XL 

The eighth article of this treaty shall be in force for five years 
from the date of the exchange of the ratifications, and afterwards 
until one or the other party shall signify a wish to terminate it. 
The tenth article shall continue in force until one or the other of 
the parties shall signify its wish to terminate it, and no longer. 

:ic 4c H: ^ * ^ 4: H^l 



No. 97. Joint Resolution for the Annex- 
ation of Texas 

March i, 1845 

In 1821 the United States of Mexico, until then a part of the Spanish pos- 
sessiojis in America, became independent. The provinces of Coahuila and 
Texas were united as a State, and in 1827 formed a constitution. In 1835 
the State declared its independence of Mexico, and in 1836 proclaimed itself 
the Republic of Texas. The independence of Texas was acknowledged in 
1837 by the United States, Great Britain, France, and Belgium, but not by 
Mexico; and in 1838 a treaty for marking the boundary between Texas and 
the United States was concluded at Washington. As early as 1821 attempts 
had been made by Americans from the southern States to gain a foothold in 
Texas; but propositions by the United States in 1827 and 1829 to purchase 
Texas were not accepted, and in 1830 "orders were issued to prevent any 
further emigration from the United States." From 1843 onward annexation 
became a prominent question, advocated chiefly in the South. In 1844, how- 
ever, both Van Buren and Clay, respectively the leading Democratic and 
Whig candidates for the presidency, declared against it, and a treaty for 
annexation, concluded April 12, 1844, was rejected by the Senate. The elec- 
tion of Polk was regarded as a victory for the annexation policy. Decem- 
ber 12, 1844, IngersoU of Pennsylvania, chairman of the House Com- 
mittee on Foreign Affairs, reported a joint resolution for annexation, which 
passed the House Jan. 25, by a vote of 120 to 98. February 4, in the Senate, 
Archer of Virginia, chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations, to 
which had been referred the resolution of the House, together with several 
similar propositions originating in the Senate, made a report recommending 
the rejection of the House resolution. The resolution was, however, taken 

' Signed: "Danl. Webster, Ashburton." — Ed. 



1845] ANNEXATION OF TEXAS 369 

up by the Senate Feb. 13, and considered daily until the 27th, when it passed, 
in an amended form, without a division, the vote on the third reading being 
27 to 25. On the 28th, by a vote of 134 to 77, the House concurred in the 
Senate amendments, and March i the resolution was approved. The terrris ■ 
proposed were agreed to by the Congress of Texas June 18, and by a con- 
vention at Austin July 4. A State constitution was ratified Oct. 13, by popu- 
lar vote, and by joint resolution of Dec. 29 Texas was admitted as a State. 
The area acquired by the annexation was 371,063 square miles. 

References. — - Text in U. S. Stat, at Large, V., 797, 798. For the pro- 
ceedings of Congress, see the House and Senate Journals, 28th Cong., 2d 
Sess.; for the debates, see the Cong. Globe, or Benton's Abridgment, XV. 
For the diplomatic correspondence, etc., see Senate Doc. i, 13 and 30, 28th 
Cong., 2d Sess., and Senate Doc. i, 29th Cong., ist Sess. Archer's report 
is Senate Doc. 79, 28th Cong., 2d Sess. 

Joint Resolution for annexing Texas to the United States. 

Resolved . . . , That Congress doth consent that the territory 
properly included within, and rightfully belonging to the Republic 
of Texas, may be erected into a new State, to be called the State 
of Texas, with a republican form of government, to be adopted by 
the people of said republic, by deputies in convention assembled, 
with the consent of the existing government, in order that the 
same may be admitted as one of the States of this Union. 

2. And be it further resolved, That the foregoing consent of 
Congress is given upon the following conditions, and with the 
following guarantees, to wit : First, Said State to be formed, sub- 
ject to the adjustment by this government of all questions of 
boundary that may arise with other governments; and the con- 
stitution thereof, with the proper evidence of its adoption by the 
people of said RepubHc of Texas, shall be transmitted to the 
President of the United States, to be laid before Congress for 
its final action, on or before the first day of January, one 
thousand eight hundred and forty-six. Second, Said State, 
when admitted into the Union, after ceding to the United 
States, all public edifices, fortifications, barracks, ports and 
harbors, navy and navy-yards, docks, magazines, arms, arma- 
ments, and all other property and means pertaining to the public 
defence belonging to said Republic of Texas, shall retain all the 
public funds, debts, taxes, and dues of every kind, which may be- 
long to or be due and owing said republic; and shall also retain 
all the vacant and unappropriated lands lying within its limits, to 



370 ANNEXATION OF TEXAS [March i 

be ai)plied to the payment of the debts and Habihties of said Re- 
public of Texas, and the residue of said lands, after discharging 
said debts and liabilities, to be disposed of as said State may 
direct; but in no event are said debts and liabilities to become a 
charge upon the Government of the United States. Third. New 
States, of convenient size, not exceeding four in number, in addi- 
tion to said State of Texas, and having sufficient population, may 
hereafter, by the consent of said State, be formed out of the terri- 
tory thereof, which shall be entitled to admission under the pro- 
visions of the federal constitution. And such States as may be 
formed out of that portion of said territory lying south of thirty- 
six degrees thirty minutes north latitude, commonly known as the 
Missouri compromise line, shall be admitted into the Union with 
or without slavery, as the people of each State asking admission 
may desire. And in such State or States as shall be formed out 
of said territory north of said Missouri compromise line, slavery, 
or involuntary servitude, (except for crime,) shall be prohibited. 

3. And be it fiirtJier resolved, That if the President of the 
United States shall in his judgment and discretion deem it most 
advisable, instead of proceeding to submit the foregoing resolution 
to the Republic of Texas, as an overture on the part of the United 
States for admission, to negotiate with that Republic; then. 

Be it resolved, That a State, to be formed out of the present 
Republic of Texas, with suitable extent and boundaries, and with 
two representatives in Congress, until the next apportionment of 
representation, shall be admitted into the Union, by virtue of this 
act, on an equal footing with the existing- States, as soon as the 
terms and conditions of such admission, and the cession of the 
remaining Texian territory to the United States shall be agreed 
upon by the Governments of Texas and the United States: And 
that the sum of one hundred thousand dollars be, and the same 
is hereby, apj^ropriated to defray the expenses of missions and 
negotiations, to agree upon the terms of said admission and ces- 
sion, either by treaty to be submitted to the Senate, or by articles 
to be submitted to the two houses of Congress, as the President 
may direct. 



1846] MEXICAN WAR 37 1 

No. 98. Act for the Prosecution of the 
Mexican War 

May 13, 1846 

A BILL authorizing the President to accept the services of volunteers in 
certain cases had been introduced in the House early in the session of 1845-46, 
but no further action in reference to it had been taken. On the receipt of 
Polk's war message of May 1 1 the bill was at once taken up, a new first sec- 
tion and preamble substituted, and, with further amendments and a changed 
title, the bill passed the same day, by a vote of 174 to 14. In the Senate, the 
following day, a motion to strike out the preamble was lost, 18 to 28, and 
the bill, with a slight amendment, was passed, the vote being 40 to 2. On the 
13th the House concurred in the Senate amendment, the act was approved, 
and a proclamation by the President was issued. 

References. — Text in U. S. Stat, at Large, IX., 9, 10. The brief pro- 
ceedings and debates may be followed in the Journals and Cong. Globe, 29th 
Cong., ist Sess., or Benton's Abridgment, XV. The political causes and 
aspects of the Mexican war, and its significance in connection with the slavery 
controversy, are discussed at length in general histories of the period and in bi- 
ographies of contemporary public men. See also Webster's Works (ed. 1857), 
v., 253-261, 271-301; Calhoun's Works (ed. 1854), IV., 303-327, 396-424. 

An Ad providing for the Prosecution of the existing War between 
the United States and the Republic of Mexico. 

Whereas, by the act of the Republic of Mexico, a state of war 
exists between that Government and the United States: 

Be it enacted . . . , That, for the purpose of enabling the gov- 
ernment of the United States to prosecute said war to a speedy 
and successful termination, the President be, and he is hereby, 
authorized to employ the militia, naval, and military forces of the 
United States, and to call for and accept the services of any num- 
ber of volunteers, not exceeding fifty thousand, who may offer 
their services, either as cavalry, artillery, infantry, or riflemen, to 
serve twelve months after they shall have arrived at the place of 
rendezvous, or to the end of the war, unless sooner discharged, 
according to the time for which they shall have been mustered 
into service; and that the sum of ten millions of dollars, out of 
any moneys in the treasury, or to come into the treasury, not 
otherwise appropriated, be, and the same is hereby, appropriated 

for the purpose of carrying the provisions of this act into effect. 
******** 



372 TREATY WITH GREAT BRITAIN [June 15 

Sec. 8. And be it further enacted, That the President of the 
United States be, and he is hereby, authorized forthwith to com- 
plete all the public armed vessels now authorized by law, and to 
purchase or charter, arm, equip, and man, such merchant vessels 
and steam-boats as, upon examination, may be found fit, or easily 
converted into armed vessels fit for the public service, and in 
such number as he may deem necessary for the protection of the 
seaboard, lake coast, and the general defence of the country. 
******** 



No. 99. Treaty with Great Britain 

June 15, 1846 

So much of the northern boundary of the United States as lay between the 
Lake of the Woods and the Rocky Mountains had been fixed by the Ash- 
burton treaty of 1842; west of the mountains, however, the boundary was still 
undetermined. By virtue of the discovery of the Mississippi, France had 
claimed all the region west of that river as far as the Pacific ; and this claim, 
of doubtful value at best, had passed to the United States upon the purchase 
of Louisiana in 1803. The region known as Oregon was also claimed by the 
United States, on the ground of Gray's discovery of the Columbia River in 
1 79 1. Oregon was also claimed by Great Britain; but by a convention of 
Oct. 20, 1818, the two countries agreed to a joint occupancy of the country 
for ten years, without prejudice to the rights of either party. By the treaty of 
1819 between the United States and Spain, the latter accepted the 42d 
parallel as the northern limit of its possessions on the Pacific coast ; while by 
treaties of 1824 with the United States, and of 1825 with Great Britain, the 
southern limit of the Russian possessions was fixed at 54° 40'. The " Oregon 
country," therefore, was the region between 42° and 54° 40', and west of the 
Rocky Mountains. The convention of 1818 was continued indefinitely Aug. 
6, 1827, but made terminable by either party after Oct. 20, 1828, on twelve 
months' notice. In the presidential campaign of 1844 the Democratic plat- 
form demanded "the re-occupation of Oregon, and the re-annexation of 
Texas, at the earliest practicable period," the intention being, of course, to 
use Oregon as a political offset to Texas. A bill to organize a territorial gov- 
ernment for Oregon, with the line of 54° 40' as the northern limit, passed the 
House Feb. 3, 1845, but the Senate refused to consider it because slavery was 
to be prohibited in the proposed territory. A joint resolution of April 27, 
1846, authorized the President, at his discretion, to give the required notice 
of withdrawal from the agreement of 1827 with Great Britain. The matter in 
dispute was finally settled by the treaty of June 15, 1846, although, owing to 



1846J TREATY WITH GREAT BRITAIN 373 

the disagreement of the commissioners under the treaty, a portion of the water 
boundary remained undetermined until 187 1. 

References. — Text in U. S. Stat, at Large, IX., 869-870. The message 
of the President transmitting the treaty and correspondence, together with 
the proceedings of the Senate, are in Senate Doc. 489, 29th Cong., ist Sess., 
and Cong. Globe, Appendix, 1168-1178; see also Senate Doc. 1, pp. 138-192, 
and Senate Doc. 117. 



Article I. 

From the point on the forty-ninth parallel of north latitude, 
where the boundary laid down in existing treaties and conventions 
between the United States and Great Britain terminates, the line 
of boundary between the territories of the United States and 
those of her Britannic Majesty shall be continued westward along 
the said forty-ninth parallel of north latitude to the middle of the 
channel which separates the continent from Vancouver's Island, 
and thence southerly through the middle of the said channel, and 
of Fuca's Straits, to the Pacific Ocean: Provided, however, That 
the navigation of the whole of the said channel and straits, south 
of the forty-ninth parallel of north latitude, remain free and open 
to both parties. 

Article II. 

From the point at which the forty-ninth parallel of north lati- 
tude shall be found to intersect the great northern branch of the 
Columbia River, the navigation of the said branch shall be free 
and open to the Hudson's Bay Company, and to all British subjects 
trading with the same, to the point where the said branch meets 
the main stream of the Columbia, and thence down the said main 
stream to the ocean, with free access into and through the said 
river or rivers, it being understood that all the usual portages along 
the line thus described shall, in like manner, be free and open. 
In navigating the said river or rivers, British subjects, with their 
goods and produce, shall be treated on the same footing as citizens 
of the United States; it being, however, always understood that 
nothing in this article shall be construed as preventing, or intended 
to prevent, the government of the United States from making 
any regulations respecting the navigation of the said river or rivers 
not inconsistent with the present treaty. 



374 INDEPENDENT TREASURY ACT [August 6 



Article III. 

In the future appropriation of the territory south of the forty- 
ninth parallel of north latitude, as provided in the first article of 
this treaty, the possessory rights of the Hudson's Bay Company, 
and of all British subjects who may be already in the occupation 
of land or other property lawfully acquired within the said terri- 
tory, shall be respected. 

Article IV. 

The farms, lands, and other property of every description, be- 
longing to the Puget's Sound Agricultural Company, on the north 
side of the Columbia River, shall be confirmed to the said com- 
pany. In case, however, the situation of those farms and lands 
should be considered by the United States to be of public and po- 
litical importance, and the United States government should 
signify a desire to obtain possession of the whole, or of any part 
thereof, the property so required shall be transferred to the said 
government, at a proper valuation, to be agreed upon between the 

parties. 

* * * * * * * *^ 



No. TOO. Independent Treasury Act 

August 6, 1846 

» 
The passage of the act of July 4, 1840, "to provide for the collection, safe 
keeping, transfer, and disbursement of the public revenue," seemed to mark 
the final success of the so-called independent treasury plan, which had been 
several times urged bv the President, and twice rejected by the House in the 
twenty-fifth Congress. The success of the Whigs, however, in the election of 
1840, was followed, Aug. 13, 1841, by the repeal of the act; while the veto of 
two successive bank bills by President Tyler, in the same year, led to the 
immediate resignation of the members of the Cabinet, with the exception of 
Webster, and to a formal repudiation of Tyler by the Whigs. From 1841 to 
1846 the custody of the public funds devolved upon the Treasury Department 
without special regulation by law. December 19, 1845, ^ bill embodying the 
general features of the independent treasury act of 1840 was reported in the 
House. The bill was taken up March 30, and passed .\pril 2 by a vote of 1 23 
' Signed: "James Buchanan, Richard Pakenham." — Ed. 



1846] INDEPENDENT TREASURY ACT 375 

to 67. It was not reported in the Senate until June 8, and was not further 
considered until July 29; Aug. i the bill passed the Senate, the vote being 
28 to 25. The amendments of the Senate were agreed to by the House Aug. 5, 
and on the 6th the act was approved. 

References. — Text in U. S. Stat, at Large, IX., 59-66. For the pro- 
ceedings, see the House and Senate Journals, 29th Cong., ist Sess. ; for the 
debates, see the Cong. Globe, or Benton's Abridgment, XV. The act of 1840 
is in U. S. Stat, at Large, V., 385-392. On the treatment of the public money 
after 1841, see House Exec. Doc. 123, 27th Cong., 2d Sess. Webster's speech 
of Aug. I, 1846, is in his Works (ed. 1857), V., 244-252. For Clay's speeches 
on the various sub-treasury plans, see his Life and Speeches (ed. 1844), II., 
279-303, 310-349, 384-405, 432-436; for his speech on Tyler's bank vetoes, 
ib., II., 485-507. See also Kinley's Independent Treasury, chap. 2. 

An Act to provide for the better Organization of the Treasury, and 
for the Collection, Safe-Keeping, Transfer, and Disbursement of 
the public Revenue. 

Be it enacted . . . , That the rooms prepared and provided in 
the new treasury building at the seat of government for the use 
of the treasurer of the United States, his assistants, and clerks, 
and occupied by them, and also the fireproof vaults and safes 
erected in said rooms for the keeping of the public moneys in the 
possession and under the immediate control of said treasurer, and 
such other apartments as are provided for in this act as places of 
deposit of the public money, are hereby constituted and declared 
to be the treasury of the United States. And all moneys paid 
into the same shall be subject to the draft of the treasurer, drawn 
agreeably to appropriations made by law. 

[Sections 2-4 provide that the mint at Philadelphia, the branch 
mint at New Orleans, and the places provided for at New York, 
Boston, Charleston, and St. Louis, under the act of July 4, 1840, 
for the use of receivers-general of public money, shall be places of 
deposit.] 

Sec. 5. And be it further enacted, That the President shall 
nominate, and by and with the advice and consent of the Senate 
appoint, four officers to be denominated "assistant treasurers of 
the United States," which said officers shall hold their respective 
offices for the term of four years, unless sooner removed there- 
from; one of which shall be located at the city of New York 
. . . ; one ... at the city of Boston . . . ; one ... at the 
city of Charleston . . . ; and one other at St. Louis . . . 



376 INDEPENDENT TREASURY ACT [August 6 

Sec. 6. And be it further enacted^ That the treasurer of the 
United States, the treasurer of the mint of the United States, the 
treasurers, and those acting as such, of the various branch mints, 
all collectors of the customs, all surveyors of the customs acting 
also as collectors, all assistant treasurers, all receivers of public 
moneys at the several land offices, all postmasters, and all public 
officers of whatsoever character, be, and they are hereby, required 
to keep safely, without loaning, using, depositing in banks, or 
exchanging for other funds than as allowed by this act, all the 
public money collected by them, or otherwise at any time placed 
in their possession and custody, till the same is ordered, by the 
proper department or officer of the government, to be transferred 
or paid out; and when such orders for transfer or payment are 
received, faithfully and promptly to make the same as directed, 
and to do and perform all other duties as fiscal agents of the gov- 
ernment which may be imposed by this or any other acts of Con- 
gress, or by any regulation of the treasury department made in 
conformity to law; and also to do and perform all acts and duties 
required by law, or by direction of any of the Executive depart- 
ments of the government, as agents for paying pensions, or for 
making any other disbursements which either of the heads of 
these departments may be required by law to make, and which are 
of a character to be made by the depositaries hereby constituted, 
consistently with the other official duties imposed upon them. 

Sec. 9. And be it further enacted, That all collectors and re- 
ceivers of public money, of every character and description, 
within the District of Columbia, shall, as frequently as they may 
be directed by the Secretary of the Treasury, or the Postmaster- 
General so to do, pay over to the treasurer of the United States, 
at the treasury, all public moneys collected by them, or in their 
hands; that all such collectors and receivers of public moneys 
within the cities of Philadelphia and New Orleans shall, upon the 
same direction, pay over to the treasurers of the mints in their 
respective cities, at the said mints, all public moneys collected by 
them, or in their hands; and that all such collectors and receivers 
of public moneys within the cities of New York, Boston, Charles- 
ton, and St. Louis, shall, upon the same direction, pay over to the 
assistant treasurers in their respective cities, at their offices, re- 



1846] TREATY WITH MEXICO' 37) 

spectively, all the public moneys collected by them, or in their 
hands, to be safely kept by the said respective depositaries until 
otherwise disposed of according to law; and it shall be the duty 
of the said Secretary and Postmaster-General respectively to 
direct such payments by the said collectors and receivers at all 
the said places, at least as often as once in each week, and as 
much more frequently, in all cases, as they in their discretion may 
think proper. 

Sec. 18. Be it further enacted, That on . . . [January i, 1847] 
. . . , and thereafter, all duties, taxes, sales of public lands, debts, 
and sums of money accruing or becoming due to the United 
States, and also all sums due for postages or otherwise, to the 
general post-office department, shall be paid in gold and silver 
coin only, or in treasury notes issued under the authority of the 
United States. . . . 

Sec. 19. And he it further enacted, ThaX on . . . [April i, 1847] 
. . . , and thereafter, every officer or agent engaged in making 
disbursements on account of the United States, or of the general 
post-office, shall make all payments in gold and silver coin, or in 
treasury notes, if the creditor agree to receive said notes in pay- 
ment. . . . 



No. 10 1. Treaty with Mexico 

February 2, 1848 

The treaty which closed the Mexican war was negotiated on the part of 
the United States by N. P. Trist, who, previous to his appointment as com- 
missioner and confidential agent, had been chief clerk of the Department of 
State. He was instructed "to demand the cession of New Mexico and Cali- 
fornia in satisfaction of claims against Mexico." He left Washington April 
16,1847, and arrived at Vera Cruz, the headquarters of the United States army, 
May 6. November 16 he received a letter of recall, but disregarded it, and 
Feb. 2, 1848, concluded with Mexico the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. Trist 
remained in Mexico until April 8, when an order for his arrest compelled 
him to leave. The treaty was sent to the Senate Feb. 23, and ratified by that 
body, with amendments, March 10, by a vote of 38 to 14. The suggested 
amendments were accepted by Mexico, and May 30 ratifications were ex- 



3/8 TREATY WITH MEXICO [February 2 

changed. An act of July 29, 1848, provided for the payment of liquidated 
claims against Mexico. The survey of the boundary line was provided for by 
an act of Aug. 12, and acts of Feb. 26 and March 3, 1849, ^^^ March 3, 1851, 
made further provision for the settlement of Mexican claims. 

References. — EngHsh and Spanish text in U. S. Stat, at Large, IX., 
922-942. The papers accompanying the treaty, and the proceedings of 
the Senate, are in Senate Exec. Doc. 52, 30th Cong., ist Sess. ; other papers 
are in House Exec. Doc. 40, 56, 60, 69, and 70. On the negotiation of the 
treaty, see House Exec. Doc. 50, 30th Cong., 2d Sess.; on the part played by 
Trist, Senate Rep. 261, 41st Cong., 2d Sess. The discussions in Congress 
may be followed in Cong. Globe, 30th Cong., ist Sess., and appendix. See 
also Wharton's Intern. Law Digest (ed. 1887), II., 256-261. 

Article I. 

There shall be firm and universal peace between the United 
States of America and the Mexican republic, and between their 
respective countries, territories, cities, towns, and people, without 
exception of places or persons. 

Article V.* 

The boundary line between the two republics shall commence 
in the Gulf of Mexico, three leagues from land, opposite the mouth 
of the Rio Grande, otherwise called Rio Bravo del Norte, or 
opposite the mouth of its deepest branch, if it should have more 
than one branch emptying directly into the sea; from thence up 
the middle of that river, following the deepest channel, where it 
has more than one, to the point where it strikes the southern 
boundary of New Mexico; thence, westwardly, along the whole 
southern boundary of New Mexico (which runs north of the town 
called Paso) to its western termination ; thence, northward, along 
the western line of New Mexico, until it intersects the first branch 
of the River Gila ; (or if it should not intersect any branch of that 
river, then to the point on the said line nearest to such branch, 
and thence in a direct line to the same;) thence down the middle 
of the said branch and of the said river, until it empties into the 
Rio Colorado; thence across the Rio Colorado, following the divi- 
sion line between Upper and Lower California, to the Pacific 
Ocean. . . . 

' Amended by Article I. of the treaty of Dec. 30, 1853. — Ed. 



TREATY WITH MEXICO 379 



Article VI.* 

The vessels and citizens of the United States shall, in all time, 
have a free and uninterrupted passage by the Gulf of California, 
and by the river Colorado below its confluence with the Gila, 
to and from their possessions situated north of the boundary line 
defined in the preceding article; it being understood that this 
passage is to be by navigating the Gulf of California and the River 
Colorado, and not by land, without the express consent of the 
Mexican government. 

If, by the examinations which may be made, it should be ascer- 
tained to be practicable and advantageous to construct a road, 
canal, or railway, which should in whole or in part run upon the 
River Gila, or upon its right or its left bank, within the space of 
one marine league from either margin of the river, the govern- 
ments of both republics will form an agreement regarding its 
construction, in order that it may serve equally for the use and 
advantage of both countries. 

Article VII. ^ 

The River Gila, and the part of the Rio Bravo del Norte lying 
below the southern boundary of New Mexico, being, agreeably to 
the fifth article, divided in the middle between the two republics, 
the navigation of the Gila and of the Bravo below said boundary 
shall be free and common to the vessels and citizens of both 
countries; and neither shall, without the consent of the other, 
construct any work that may impede or interrupt, in whole or in 
part, the exercise of this right; not even for the purpose of favor- 
ing new methods of navigation. Nor shall any tax or contribution, 
under any denomination or title, be levied upon vessels, or persons 
navigating the same, or upon merchandise or effects transported 
thereon, except in the case of landing upon one of their shores. 
If, for the purpose of making the said rivers navigable, or for 
maintaining them in such state, it should be necessary or advan- 
tageous to establish any tax or contribution, this shall not be done 
without the consent of both governments. 

' Amended by Article IV. of the treaty of Dec. 30, 1853. — ^^■ 
■'Amended by Article IV. of the treaty of Dec. 30, 1853. — Ed. 



380 TREATY WITH MEXICO [February 2 

The stipulations contained in the present article shall not impair 
the territorial rights of either repubhc within its established limits. 

Article VIII. 

Mexicans now established in territories previously belonging to 
Mexico, and which remain for the future within the limits of the 
United States, as defined by the present treaty, shall be free to 
continue where they now reside, or to remove at any time to the 
Mexican republic, retaining the property which they possess in 
the said territories, or disposing thereof, and removing the pro- 
ceeds wherever they please, without their being subjected, on this 
account, to any contribution, tax, or charge whatever. 

Those who shall prefer to remain in the said territories, may 
either retain the title and rights of Mexican citizens, or acquire 
those of citizens of the United States. But they shall be under the 
obligation to make their election within one year from the date 
of the exchange of ratifications of this treaty; and those who shall 
remain in the said territories after the expiration of that year, 
without having declared their intention to retain the character of 
Mexicans, shall be considered to have elected to become citizens 
of the United States. 

In the said territories, property of every kind, now belonging 
to Mexicans not established there, shall be inviolably respected. 
The present owners, the heirs of these, and all Mexicans who 
may hereafter acquire said property by contract, shall enjoy with 
respect to it guaranties equally ample as if the same belonged to 
citizens of the United States. 

Article IX.^ 

Mexicans who, in the territories aforesaid, shall not pre- 
serve the character of citizens of the Mexican republic, con- 
formably with what is stipulated in the preceding article, shall 
be incorporated into the Union of the United States, and be 
admitted at the proper time (to be judged of by the Congress of 
the United States) to the enjoyment of all the rights of citizens 
of the United States, according to the principles of the constitu- 

' See protocol, May 26, 1848: Treaties and Conventions (ed. 1889), 692, 693. 
— Ed. 



1848] TREATY WITH MEXICO 381 

tion; and in the mean time shall be maintained and protected 
in the free enjoyment of their liberty and property, and secured in 
the free exercise of their religion without restriction. 

[Article X., relating to Mexican land grants in the ceded terri- 
tory, was stricken out by the Senate (see protocol. May 26, 1848). 
Article XI., binding the United States to prevent Indian incursions 
into Mexican territory, and to restore Mexican prisoners taken by 
Indians, was abrogated by Article II. of the treaty of Dec. 3p. 
1853-] 

Article XII, 

In consideration of the extension acquired by the boundaries 
of the United States, as defined in the fifth article of the present 
treaty, the government of the United States engages to pay to 
that of the Mexican republic the sum of fifteen millions of 
dollars. ... 

Article XIII, 

The United States engage, moreover, to assume and pay to the 
claimants all the amounts now due them, and those hereafter 
to become due, by reason of the claims already liquidated and 
decided against the Mexican republic, under the conventions 
between the two republics severally concluded on . . . [April 11, 
1839, and January 30, 1843] • • • 

Article XIV. 

The United States do furthermore discharge the Mexican re- 
public from all claims of citizens of the United States, not hereto- 
fore decided against the Mexican government, which may have 
arisen previously to the date of the signature of this treaty; which 
discharge shall be final and perpetual, whether the said claims be 
rejected or be allowed by the board of commissioners provided 
for in the following article, and whatever shall be the total amount 
of those allowed. 

Article XV, 

The United States, exonerating Mexico from all demands on 
account of the claims of their citizens mentioned in the preceding 
article, and considering them entirely and forever cancelled, what' 



382 TREATY WITH MEXICO [February i 

ever their amount may be, undertake to make satisfaction for the 
same, to an amount not exceeding three and one quarter millions 
of dollars. . . . 

[Article xvii continues for eight years the treaty of amity, 
commerce, and navigation of April 5, 1831, between the United 
States of America and the United Mexican States, " except the 
additional article, and except so far as the stipulations of the 
said treaty may be incompatible with any stipulation contained 
in the present treaty;" subject, however, to termination there- 
after on one year's notice by either party. ^] 

Article XXI. 

If unhappily any disagreement should hereafter arise between 
the governments of the two republics, whether with respect to the 
interpretation of any stipulation in this treaty, or with respect to 
any other particular concerning the political or commercial relations 
of the two nations, the said governments, in the name of those 
nations, do promise to each other that they will endeavor, in the 
most sincere and earnest manner, to settle the differences so arising, 
and to preserve the state of peace and friendship in which the 
two countries are now placing themselves; using, for this end, 
mutual representations and pacific negotiations. And if, by these 
means, they should not be enabled to come to an agreement, a 
resort shall not, on this account, be had to reprisals, aggression, or 
hostility of any kind, by the one republic against the other, until 
the Government of that which deems itself aggrieved shall have 
maturely considered, in the spirit of peace and good neighbor- 
ship, whether it would not be better that such difference should 
be settled by the arbitration of commissioners appointed on each 
side, or by that of a friendly nation. And should such course be 
proposed by either party, it shall be acceded to by the other, 
unless deemed by it altogether incompatible with the nature of 
the difference, or the circumstances of the case. 

» Cj. Article V. of the treaty of Dec. 30, 1853. — Ed. 

^Signed: "N. P. Trist, Luis G. Cuevas, Bernardo Couto, Migl. Atristain." 
— Ed. 



1850] COMPROMISE OF 1850 383 



Compromise of 1850 

August 8, 1846, in the debate in the House on the bill appropriating 
$2,000,000 to purchase territory from Mexico, Wilmot of Pennsylvania 
moved as an amendment the proviso "that, as an express and fundamental 
condition to the acquisition of any territory from the Republic of Mexico by 
the United States, by virtue of any treaty which may be negotiated between 
them, and to the use by the Executive of the moneys herein appropriated, 
neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall ever exist in any part of said 
territory, except for crime, whereof the party shall first be duly convicted." 
The amendment was not accepted, and later attempts to engraft the proviso 
upon bills to organize the Territory of Oregon failed. In 1848 a bill to 
organize the Territories of Oregon, New Mexico, and California, with a pro- 
vision "that all questions concerning slavery in those Territories should be 
referred to the United States Supreme Court for decision," passed the Senate, 
but failed in the House. The act of Aug. 14, 1848, organizing the Territory 
of Oregon, applied to the new Territory the provisions of the articles of com- 
pact in the Ordinance of 1787. A bill to establish territorial governments in 
New Mexico and California, with the Wilmot proviso, passed the House in 
1849, t>ut was not acted on in the Senate. Later in the session, the Senate 
attempted to provide for the organization of the two Territories by means of 
a "rider" on the general appropriation bill, but the attempt was defeated in 
the House. 

In May, 1848, the Democratic National Convention had rejected, 36 to 
216, a resolution offered by Yancey of Alabama, "That the doctrine of non- 
interference with the rights of property of any portion of the people of this 
confederacy, be it in the States or Territories thereof, by any other than'the 
parties interested in them, is the true republican doctrine, recognized by this 
body." The doctrine of "squatter sovereignty" embodied in this resolution 
now began to be urged in opposition to the doctrine of the Wilmot proviso, 
and the issue was joined on the question of prohibiting slavery in the new 
Territories, or allowing the people of each Territory to establish or exclude 
slavery as they might see fit. 

In June, 1849, the people of California adopted a State constitution pro- 
hibiting slavery. In his annual message of Dec. 4, President Taylor recom- 
mended the admission of California, but suggested the advisability of awaiting 
popular action in New Mexico before legislating for the organization of that 
region. January 29, 1850, Clay submitted in the Senate a series of resolu- 
tions, intended to afford a basis for adjusting the differences regarding the 
status and treatment of slavery in the Territories. On the 13th of February 
the constitution of California was transmitted to Congress. April 18, by a 
vote of 30 to 22, Clay's resolutions were referred to a select committee of thir- 
teen, of which Clay was chairman. May 8 the committee submitted its 
report, together with two bills, one to admit California as a State, to establish 
territorial governments for Utah and New Mexico, and making proposals to 



384 COMPROMISE OF 1850 [January 29 

Texas for the establishment of her western and northern boundaries, and the 
other to suppress the slave trade in the District of Columbia. 

The first of these bills, known as the "omnibus bill," was taken up in the 
Senate May 9. June 17, by a vote of 38 to 12, an amendment applying to 
Utah the doctrine of "squatter sovereignty" was agreed to; July 31 the sec- 
tions relating to California, New Mexico, and Texas were stricken out, and 
Aug. I the remainder of the bill passed the Senate as "an act to establish 
a territorial government for Utah." The House passed the bill Sept. 7, by a 
vote of 97 to 85, and on the 9th the act was approved. A bill to adjust the 
Texan boundary passed the Senate Aug. 10, by a vote of 30 to 20; on the 
15th the Senate passed the New Mexico bill, the vote being 27 to 10. The 
House added the New Mexico bill to the Texas bill as an amendment, and 
Sept. 6 passed the bill in this form by a vote of 108 to 97. The Senate con- 
curred in the House amendment, and on the 9th the act was approved. The 
bill to admit California passed the Senate Aug. 13, 34 to 18, and the House 
Sept. 7, 150 to 56; Sept. 9 the act was approved. The fugitive slave bill 
passed the Senate Aug. 26, without a division, the vote on the third reading 
being 27 to 12; the House passed the bill Sept. 12, without debate, by a vote 
of 109 to 76, and on the i8th the act was approved. The act was repealed 
June 28, 1864. The act to suppress the slave trade in the District of Colum- 
bia, the last of the compromise measures, passed the Senate Sept. 16, by a 
vote of 33 to 19, and the House on the following day, by a vote of 124 to 59; 
on the 20th the act was approved. 

References. — The text is indicated at the end of each of the extracts 
following. For the proceedings of Congress, see the House and Senate Jotir- 
nals, 31st Cong., ist Sess. ; for the discussions, see the Cong. Globe, and 
appendix, or Benton's Abridgment, XVI. A large number of memorials and 
resolutions are collected in the House and Senate Misc. Doc. of this session ; 
see also Senate Rep. 12. See also Webster's Works (ed. 1857), V., 324-366, 
373-405, 412-438; Calhoun's Works (ed. 1854), IV., 535-578; Seward's 
Works (ed. 1853), I., 31-131; Pierce's Sumtner, III., chaps 34, 35. 



No. 102. Clay's Resolutions 

January 29, 1850 

It being desirable, for the peace, concord, and harmony of the 
Union of these States, to settle and adjust amicably all existing 
questions of controversy between them arising out of the institu- 
tion of slavery upon a fair, equitable and just basis: therefore, 

I. Resolved, That California, with suitable boundaries, ought, 
upon her application to be admitted as one of the States of this 



1850] CLAY'S RESOLUTIONS 385 

Union, without the imposition by Congress of any restriction in 
respect to the exclusion or introduction of slavery within those 
boundaries. 

2. Resolved, That as slavery does not exist by law, and is not 
likely to be introduced into any of the territory acquired by the 
United States from the republic of Mexico, it is inexpedient for 
Congress to provide by law either for its introduction into, or 
exclusion from, any part of the said territory; and that appropriate 
territorial governments ought to be established by Congress in all 
of the said territory, not assigned as the boundaries of the proposed 
State of California, without the adoption of any restriction or con- 
dition on the subject of slavery. 

3. Resolved, That the western boundary of the State of Texas 
ought to be fixed on the Rio del Norte, commencing one marine 
league from its mouth, and running up that river to the southern 
line of New Mexico ; thence with that line eastwardly, and so con- 
tinuing in the same direction to the line as established between 
the United States and Spain-, excluding any portion of New Mexico, 
whether lying on the east or west of that river. 

4. Resolved, That it be proposed to the State of Texas, that the 
United States will provide for the payment of all that portion of 
the legitimate and bona fide public debt of that State contracted 
prior to its annexation to the United States, and for which the 
duties on foreign imports were pledged by the said State to its 

creditors, not exceeding the sum of dollars, in consideration 

of the said duties so pledged having been no longer applicable to 
that object after the said annexation, but having thenceforward 
become payable to the United States; and upon the condition, 
also, that the said State of Texas shall, by some solemn and 
authentic act of her legislature or of a convention, relinquish to 
the United States any claim which it has to any part of New 
Mexico. 

5. Resolved, That it is inexpedient to abolish slavery in the 
District of Columbia whilst that institution continues to exist in 
the State of Maryland, without the consent of that State, without 
the consent of the people of the District, and without just com- 
pensation to the owners of slaves within the District. 

6. But, resolved. That it is expedient to prohibit, within the 
District, the slave trade in slaves brought into it from States or 



386 COMPROMISE OF 1850 [May 8 

places beyond the limits of the District, either to be sold therein 
as merchandise, or to be transported to other markets without 
the District of Columbia. 

7. Resolved, That more effectual provision ought to be made 
by law, according to the requirement of the constitution, for the 
restitution and delivery of persons bound to service or labor in 
any State, who may escape into any other State or Territory in the 
Union. And, 

8. Resolved, That Congress has no power to prohibit or obstruct 
the trade in slaves^ between the slaveholding States; but that the 
admission or exclusion of slaves brought from one into another of 
them, depends exclusively upon their own particular laws. 

[Senate Jour., 31 Cong., ist Sess., pp. 118, 119.] 



No. 103. Extract from the Report of the 
Committee of Thirteen 

May 8, 1850 

. . . The views and recommendations contained in this report 
may be recapitulated in a few words: 

1. The admission of any new State or States formed out of 
Texas to be postponed until they shall hereafter present them- 
selves to be received into the Union, when it will be the duty of 
Congress fairly and faithfully to execute the compact with Texas 
by admitting such new State or States; 

2. The admission forthwith of California into the Union, with 
the boundaries which she has proposed; 

3. The establishment of territorial governments, without the 
Wilmot proviso, for New Mexico and Utah, embracing all the 
territory recently acquired by the United States from Mexico not 
contained in the boundaries of California; 

4. The combination of these two last-mentioned measures in 
the same bill; 

5. The establishment of the western and northern boundary of 
Texas, and the exclusion from her jurisdiction of all New Mexico, 
with the grant to Texas of a pecuniary equivalent; and the sec- 



1850] UTAH ACT . 387 

tion for that purpose to be incorporated in the bill admitting 
California and establishing territorial governments for Utah and 
New Mexico; 

6. More effectual enactments of law to secure the prompt 
delivery of persons bound to service or labor in one State, under 
the laws thereof, who escape into another State ; and, 

7. Abstaining from abolishing slavery; but, under a heavy 
penalty, prohibiting the slave trade in the District of Columbia. 

[Senate Rep. 123, 31st Cong., ist Sess., p. 11.] 



No. 104. Extract from the Utah Act 

September g, 1850 

An Act to establish a Territorial Government for Utah. 

Be it enacted . . . , That all that part of the territory of the 
United States included within the following limits, to wit: bounded 
on the west by the State of California, on the north by the Ter- 
ritory of Oregon, and on the east by the summit of the Rocky 
Mountains, and on the south by the thirty-seventh parallel of north 
latitude, be, and the same is hereby, created into a temporary 
government, by the name of the Territory of Utah; and, when 
admitted as a State, the said Territory, or any portion of the same, 
shall be received into the Union, with or without slavery, as their 
constitution may prescribe at the time of their admission: Pro- 
vided, That nothing in this act contained shall be construed to 
inhibit the government of the United States from dividing said 
Territory into two or more Territories, in such manner and at 
such times as Congress shall deem convenient and proper, or from 
attaching any portion of said Territory to any other State or 
Territory of the United States. . . . 

[U. S. Stat, at Large, IX,, 453.] 



288 COMPROMISE OF 1850 [Sept. 9 

No. 105. Extract from the Texas and 
New Mexico Act 

September 9, 1850 

An Ad proposing to the State of Texas the Establishment of her 
Northern and Western Boundaries, the Relinquishment by the 
said State of all Territory claimed by her exterior to said Boun- 
daries, and of all her claims upon the United States, a)id to 
establish a territorial Government for New Mexico. 

Be it enacted . . . , That the following propositions shall be, 
and the same hereby are, offered to the State of Texas, which, 
when agreed to by the said State, in an act passed by the general 
assembly, shall be binding and obligatory, upon the United States, 
and upon the said State of Texas : Provided, The said agreement 
by the said general assembly shall be given on or before . . . 
[December i, 1850] . . . : 

First. The State of Texas will agree that her boundary on the 
north shall commence at the point at which the meridian of one 
hundred degrees west from Greenwich is intersected by the par- 
allel of thirty-six degrees thirty minutes north latitude, and shall 
run from said point due w^est to the meridian of one hundred and 
three degrees west from Greenwich; thence her boundary shall 
run due south to the thirty-second degree of north latitude ; thence 
on the said parallel of thirty-two degrees of north latitude to the 
Rio Bravo del Norte, and thence with the channel of said river to 
the Gulf of Mexico. 

Second. The State of Texas cedes to the United States all her 
claim to territory exterior to the limits and boundaries which she 
agrees to establish by the first article of this agreement. 

Third. The State of Texas relinquishes all claim upon the 
United States for liability of the debts of Texas, and for compen- 
sation or indemnity for the surrender to the United States of her 
ships, forts, arsenals, custom-houses, custom-house revenue, arms 
and munitions of war, and public buildings with their sites, which 
became the property of the United States at the time of the an- 
nexation. 



1850] TEXAS AND NEW MEXICO ACT 389 

Fourth. The United States, in consideration of said estab- 
lishment of boundaries, cession of claim to territory, and relin- 
quishment of claims, will pay to the State of Texas the sum of ten 
millions of dollars in a stock bearing five per cent, interest, and 
redeemable at the end of fourteen years, the interest payable half- 
yearly at the treasury of the United States. 

Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That all that portion of the 
Territory of the United States bounded as follows: Beginning at 
a point in the Colorado River where the boundary line with the 
republic of Mexico crosses the same; thence eastwardly with the 
said boundary line to the Rio Grande ; thence following the main 
channel of said river to the parallel of the thirty-second degree 
of north latitude; thence east with said degree to its intersection 
with the one hundred and third degree of longitude west of Green- 
wich; thence north with said degree of longitude to the parallel 
of thirty-eighth degree of north latitude; thence west with said 
parallel to the summit of the Sierra Madre ; thence south with the 
crest of said mountains to the thirty-seventh parallel of north 
latitude; thence west with said parallel to its intersection with 
the boundary line of the State of California; thence with said 
boundary line to the place of beginning — be, and the same is 
hereby, erected into a temporary government, by the name of the 
Territory of New Mexico: Provided, That nothing in this act 
contained shall be construed to inhibit the government of the 
United States from dividing said Territory into two or more Ter- 
ritories, in such manner and at such times as Congress shall deem 
convenient and proper, or from attaching any portion thereof to 
any other Territory or State : A nd provided, further, That, when 
admitted as a State, the said Territory, or any portion of the 
same, shall be received into the Union, with or without slavery, 
as their constitution may prescribe at the time or their admission. 

\U. S. Stat, at Large IX., 446, 44'/.} 



390 COMPROMISE OF 1850 [September iS 



No. 106. Fugitive Slave Act 

September 18, 1850 

An Act to amend, and supplementary to, the Act entitled "An Act 
respecting Fugitives from Justice, and Persons escaping from the 
Service of their Masters," approved . . . [February 12, 1793]. 

[Sections 1-4 relate to the appointment of commissioners, hav- 
ing concurrent jurisdiction with the judges of the circuit and dis- 
trict courts of the United States, and the superior courts of the 
territories, to perform the duties specified in the act.] 

Sec. 5. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of 
all marshals and deputy marshals to obey and execute all warrants 
and precepts issued vmder the provisions of this act, when to 
them directed ; and should any marshal or deputy marshal refuse 
to receive such warrant, or other process, when tendered, or to 
use all proper means diligently to execute the same, he shall, on 
conviction thereof, be fined in the sum of one thousand dollars, 
to the use of such claimant, on the motion of such claimant, by 
the Circuit or District Court for the district of such marshal ; and 
after arrest of such fugitive, by such marshal or his deputy, or whilst 
at any time in his custody under the provisions of this act, should 
such fugitive escape, whether with or without the assent of such 
marshal or his deputy, such marshal shall be Hable, on his official 
bond, to be prosecuted for the benefit of such claimant, for the 
full value of the service or labor of said fugitive in the State, 
Territory, or District whence he escaped: and the better to 
enable the said commissioners, when thus appointed, to execute 
their duties faithfully and efficiently, in conformity with the 
requirements of the Constitution of the United States and of this 
act, they are hereby authorized and empowered, within their 
counties respectively, to appoint, in writing under their hands, 
any one or more suitable persons, from time to time, to execute 
all such warrants and other process as may be issued by them in 
the lawful performance of their respective duties; with authority 
to such commissioners, or the persons to be appointed by them, 
to execute process as aforesaid, to summon and call to their aid 
the bystanders, or posse comitatus of the proper county, when 



1850] FUGITIVE SLAVE ACT 391 

necessary to ensure a faithful observance of the clause of the 
Constitution referred to, in conformity with the provisions of this 
act; and all good citizens are hereby commanded to aid and 
assist in the prompt and efi&cient execution of this law, whenever 
their services may be required, as aforesaid, for that purpose; 
and said warrants shall run, and be executed by said officers, 
any where in the State within which they are issued. 

Sec. 6. And be it further enacted, That when a person held to 
service or labor in any State or Territory of the United States, 
has heretofore or shall hereafter escape into another State or 
Territory of the United States, the person or persons to whom 
such service or labor may be due, or his, her, or their agent or 
attorney, duly authorized, by power of attorney, in writing, . . . 
may pursue and reclaim such fugitive person, either by procuring 
a warrant from some one of the courts, judges, or commissioners 
aforesaid, of the proper circuit, district, or county, for the ap- 
prehension of such fugitive from service or labor, or by seizing 
and arresting such fugitive, where the same can be done without 
process, and by taking, or causing such person to be taken, forth- 
with before such court, judge, or commissioner, whose duty it shall 
be to hear and determine the case of such claimant in a summary 
manner; and upon satisfactory proof being made, by deposition 
or affidavit, in writing, to be taken and certified by such court, 
judge, or commissioner, or by other satisfactory testimony, duly 
taken and certified by some court, magistrate, justice of the peace, 
or other legal officer authorized to administer an oath and take 
depositions under the laws of the State or Territory from which 
such person owing service or Ifibor may have escaped, with a cer- 
tificate of such magistracy or other authority, as aforesaid, . . . 
and with proof, also by affidavit, of the identity of the person 
whose service or labor is claimed to be due as aforesaid, that the 
person so arrested does in fact owe service or labor to the person or 
persons claiming him or her, in the State or Territory from which 
such fugitive may have escaped as aforesaid, and that said person 
escaped, to make out and deliver to such claimant, his or her 
agent or attorney, a certificate setting forth the substantial facts 
as to the service or labor due from such fugitive to the claimant, 
and of his or her escape from the State or Territory in which he or 
she was arrested, with authority to such claimant, or his or her 



392 COMPROMISE OF 1850 [September 18 

agent or attorney, to use such reasonable force and restraint as 
may be necessary, under the circumstances of the case, to take and 
remove such fugitive person back to the State or Territory whence 
he or she may have escaped as aforesaid. In no trial or hearing 
under this act shall the testimony of such alleged fugitive be ad- 
mitted in evidence ; and the certificates in this and the first [fourth] 
section mentioned, shall be conclusive of the right of the person 
or persons in whose favor granted, to remove such fugitive to the 
State or Territory from which he escaped, and shall prevent all 
molestation of such person or persons by any process issued by any 
court, judge, magistrate, or other person whomsoever. 

Sec. 7. And be it further enacted, That any person who shall 
knowingly and willingly obstruct, hinder, or prevent such claimant, 
his agent or attorney, or any person or persons lawfully assisting 
him, her, or them, from arresting such a fugitive from service or 
labor, either with or without process as aforesaid, or shall rescue, 
or attempt to rescue, such fugitive from service or labor, from the 
custody of such claimant, his or her agent or attorney, or other 
person or persons lawfully assisting as aforesaid, when so arrested, 
pursuant to the authority herein given and declared ; or shall aid, 
abet, or assist such person so owing service or labor as aforesaid, 
directly or indirectly, to escape from such claimant, his agent or 
attorney, or other person or persons legally authorized as afore- 
said; or shall harbor or conceal such fugitive, so as to prevent the 
discovery and arrest of such person, after notice or knowledge of 
the fact that such person was a fugitive from service or labor as 
aforesaid, shall, for either of said offences, be subject to a fine not 
exceeding one thousand dollars, and imprisonment not exceeding 
six months . . . ; and shall moreover forfeit and pay, by way 
of civil damages to the party injured by such illegal conduct, the 
sum of one thousand dollars, for each fugitive so lost as afore- 
said. ... 

Sec. 9. And be it further enacted, That, upon affidavit made 
by the claimant of such fugitive, his agent or attorney, after such 
certificate has been issued, that he has reason to apprehend that 
such fugitive will be rescued by force from his or their possession 
before he can be taken beyond the limits of the State in which 
the arrest is made, it shall be the duty of the officer making the 



i8so] FUGITIVE SLAVE ACT 393 

arrest to retain such fugitive in his custody, and to remove him to 
the State whence he fled, and there to deHver him to said claim- 
ant, his agent, or attorney. And to this end, the officer aforesaid 
is hereby authorized and required to employ so many persons as 
he may deem necessary to overcome such force, and to retain 
them in his service so long as circumstances may require. . . . 

Sec. 10. And be it further enacted, That when any person held 
to service or labor in any State or Territory, or in the District of 
Columbia, shall escape therefrom, the party to whom such service 
or labor shall be due, his, her, or their agent or attorney, may 
apply to any court of record therein, or judge thereof in vacation, 
and make satisfactory proof to such court, or judge in vacation, of 
the escape aforesaid, and that the person escaping owed service 
or labor to such party. Whereupon the court shall cause a record 
to be made of the matters so proved, and also a general descrip- 
tion of the person so escaping, with such convenient certainty as 
may be; and a transcript of such record, authenticated by the 
attestation of the clerk and of the seal of the said court, being 
produced in any other State, Territory, or district in which the 
person so escaping may be found, and being exhibited to any 
judge, commissioner, or other officer authorized by the law of the 
United States to cause persons escaping from service or labor to 
be delivered up, shall be held and taken to be full and conclusive 
evidence of the fact of escape, and that the service or labor of the 
person escaping is due to the party in such record mentioned. 
And upon the production by the said party of other and further 
evidence if necessary, either oral or by affidavit, in addition to 
what is contained in the said record of the identity of the person 
escaping, he or she shall be delivered up to the claimant. And 
the said court, commissioner, judge, or other person authorized 
by this act to grant certificates to claimants of fugitives, shall, 
upon the production of the record and other evidences aforesaid, 
grant to such claimant a certificate of his right to take any such 
person identified and proved to be owing service or labor as 
aforesaid, which certificate shall authorize such claimant to seize 
or arrest and transport such person to the State or Territory from 
which he escaped . . . 

[U. S. Stat, at Large, IX., 462-465.] 



394 GADSDEN TREATY [December 30 

No. 107. Act abolishing the Slave Trade 
in the District of Columbia 

September 20, 1850 
An Act to suppress the Slave Trade in the District 0/ Columbia. 

Be it enacted . . . , That from and after . . . [January i, 
185 1 ], ... it shall not be lawful to bring into the District of 
Columbia any slave whatever, for the purpose of being sold, or 
for the purpose of being placed in depot, to be subsequently trans- 
ferred to any other State or place to be sold as merchandize. And 
if any slave shall be brought into the said District by its owner, or 
by the authority or consent of its owner, contrary to the provisions 
of this act, such slave shall thereupon become liberated and free. 

Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That it shall and may be 
lawful for each of the corporations of the cities of Washington and 
Georgetown, from time to time, and as often as may be necessary, 
to abate, break up, and abolish any depot or place of confinement 
of slaves brought into the said District as merchandize, contrary 
to the provisions of this act, by such appropriate means as may 
appear to either of the said corporations expedient and proper. 
And the same power is hereby vested in the Levy Court of Wash- 
ington county, if any attempt shall be made, within its jurisdic- 
tional limits, to establish a depot or place of confinement for 
slaves brought into the said District as merchandize for sale con- 
trary to this act. 

[U. S. Stat, at Large, IX., 467, 468.] 



No. 108. Treaty with Mexico 

December 30, 1853 

The interest of the United States in a transportation route across the isth- 
mus of Tehuantepec occasioned extended diplomatic correspondence between 
the United States and Mexico. In addition, the running of the boundary 
line under the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo had been attended with difficul- 
ties. Both questions were dealt with in the treaty of Dec. 30, 1S53, usually 



1853] GADSDEN TREATY 395 

known as the Gadsden treaty. The ratifications were exchanged at Washing- 
ton June 30, 1854. The area acquired from Mexico was 45,535 square miles. 
References. — Text in U. S. Slat, at Large, X., 1031-1037. The diplo- 
matic correspondence is in Senate Doc. 97, 32d Cong., ist .Sess. On the 
question of boundary, see Senate Doc. 34, 31st Cong., ist Sess. ; Senate Doc. 
119, 120, 121, 131, 32d Cong., ist Sess.; Senate Rep. 345, 32d Cong., 1st 
Sess.; Senate Doc. 55, 33d Cong., 2d Sess.; Senate Doc. 57, 34th Cong., ist 
Sess. 

Article I. 

The Mexican Republic agrees to designate the following as her 
true limits with the United States for the future: retaining the 
same dividing line between the two Californias as already defined 
and established, according to the 5th article of the treaty of Guada- 
lupe Hidalgo, the limits between the two republics shall be as 
follows: Beginning in the Gulf of Mexico, three leagues from 
land, opposite the mouth of the Rio Grande, as provided in the 
5th article of the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo; thence, as defined 
in the said article, up the middle of that river to the point where 
the parallel of 31° 47' north latitude crosses the same; thence 
due west one hundred miles; thence south to the parallel of 
31° 20' north latitude; thence along the said parallel of 31° 20' 
to the I nth meridian of longitude west of Greenwich; thence in 
a straight line to a point on the Colorado River twenty English 
miles below the junction of the Gila and Colorado Rivers ; thence 
up the middle of the said river Colorado until it intersects the 
present line between the United States and Mexico. . . . 

Article III. 

In consideration of the foregoing stipulations, the Government 
of the United States agrees to pay to the government of Mexico, 
in the city of New York, the sum of ten millions of dollars . . } 

Article IV. 

The provisions of the 6th and 7th articles of the treaty of Guada- 
lupe Hidalgo having been rendered nugatory, for the most part, 

' The appropriation was made by act of June 29, 1854: U. S. Stal. at Large, 
X., 301. — Ed. 



396 GADSDEN TREATY [December 30 

by the cession of territory granted in the first article of this treaty, 
the said articles are hereby abrogated and annulled, and the 
provisions as herein expressed substituted therefor. The vessels, 
and citizens of the United States shall, in all time, have free and 
uninterrupted passage through the Gulf of California, to and from 
their possessions situated north of the boundary line of the two 
countries It being understood that this passage is to be by 
navigating the Gulf of Cahfornia and the river Colorado, and not by 
land, without the express consent of the Mexican government; 
and precisely the same provisions, stipulations, and restrictions, 
in all respects, are hereby agreed upon and adopted, and shall be 
scrupulously observed and enforced by the two contracting 
governments in reference to the Rio Colorado, so far and 
for such distance as the middle of that river is made their common 
boundary line by the first article of this treaty. 

The several provisions, stipulations, and restrictions contained 
in the 7th article of the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo shall remain 
in force only so far as regards the Rio Bravo del Norte, below the 
initial of the said boundary provided in the first article of this 
treaty; that is to say, below the intersection of the 31° 47' 30" 
parallel of latitude, with the boundary line established by the late 
treaty dividing said river from its mouth upwards, according to 
the fifth article of the treaty of Guadalupe. 



Article VIII. 

The Mexican Government having on the 5th of February, 1853, 
authorized the early construction of a plank and railroad across 
the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, and, to secure the stable benefits of 
said transit way to the persons and merchandise of the citizens 
of Mexico and the United States, it is stipulated that neither 
government will interpose any obstacle to the transit of persons 
and merchandise of both nations; and at no time shall higher 
charges be made on the transit of persons and property of citizens 
of the United States, than may be made on the persons and prop- 
erty of other foreign nations, nor shall any interest in said transit, 
way, nor in the proceeds thereof, be transferred to any foreign 
government. 

The United States, by its agents, shall have the right to trans- 



1853] KANSAS-NEBRASKA ACT 39) 

port across the isthmus, in closed bags, the mails of the United 
States not intended for distribution along the line of communica- 
tion; also the effects of the United States government and its 
citizens, which may be intended for transit, and not for distribution 
on the isthmus, free of custom-house or other charges by the 
Mexican government. Neither passports nor letters of security 
will be required of persons crossing the isthmus and not remaining 
in the country. 

When the construction of the railroad shall be completed, the 
Mexican government agrees to open a port of entry in addition 
to the port of Vera Cruz, at or near the terminus of said road on 
the Gulf of Mexico. 

The two governments will enter into arrangements for the 
prompt transit of troops and munitions of the United States, 
which that government may have occasion to send from one 
part of its territory to another, lying on opposite sides of the 
continent. 

The Mexican government having agreed to protect with its 
whole power the prosecution, preservation, and security of the 
work, the United States may extend its protection as it shall judge 
wise to it when it may^feel sanctioned and warranted by the public 
or international law. 

^ 4: 4: ^ * 4: 4: 4:1 



Kansas-Nebraska Act 
1854 

The first suggestion of a territorial organization for the region between the 
western boundary of Missouri and the Rocky Mountains, which had been left 
without organization upon the admission of Missouri in 1821, seems to have 
been made in 1844, when Wilkins, Secretary of War, proposed the formation 
of Nebraska Territory as preliminary to the extension of military posts in 
that direction. A bill to establish the Territory of Nebraska was introduced 
in the House Dec. 17, 1844, by Douglas of Illinois, but no action was taken. 
A bill with the same object, brought in March 15, 1848, by Douglas, now a 
member of the Senate, likewise came to nothing. A bill to attach Nebraska, 
to the surveying district of Arkansas, introduced in the Senate July 28, 1848, 

' Signed: "James Gadsden, Manuel Diez de Bonilla, Jose Salazar Ylarreguil, 
J. Mariano Monterde." — Ed. 



398 



KANSAS-NEBRASKA ACT [1854 



stopped with the Committee on Public Lands. A third bill to organize the 
Territory of Nebraska, also introduced by Douglas, was considered by the 
Senate Dec. 20, 1848, and recommitted. 

December 13, 1852, Hall of Missouri introduced in the House a bill to 
organize the Territory of Platte. The bill went to the Committee on Terri- 
tories, and as such was not reported. February 2, 1853, however, Richardson 
of Illinois reported from the committee a bill to organize the Territory of 
Nebraska, which passed the House Feb. 10, by a vote of 98 to 43. The Senate 
Committee on Territories reported the bill on the 17th, without amendments; 
March 4, by a vote of 23 to 17, consideration was refused. This bill did not 
propose to legislate slavery into the new territory. "The opposition to it 
came from Southern members who were preparing, but were not yet ready to 
announce, their next advanced claim, that the compromise of 1850 had super- 
seded and voided that of 1820, abolished the prohibition of slavery in the 
territory north of the Missouri compromise line, and opened it to the opera- 
tion of squatter sovereignty" (Johnston). 

The thirty-third Congress met Dec. 5, 1853. December 14 Senator Dodge 
of Iowa introduced a bill to organize the Territory of Nebraska. The bill, 
which appears to have been identical with Richardson's bill of the previous ses- 
sion, provided for the organization of the whole region between the parallels 
of 36° 30' and 43° 30' on the south and north, Missouri and Iowa on the east, 
and the Rocky Mountains on the west. A substitute for this bill, with the 
same provision as to slavery as that which had been inserted in the Utah and 
New Mexico bills, was reported by Douglas, from the Committee on Terri- 
tories, Jan. 4, 1854. The declaration regarding slavery was satisfactory to 
neither party, and on the i6th Dixon of Kentucky gave notice of an amend- 
ment explicitly exempting the proposed territory from the operation of the 
Missouri compromise, to which Sumner of Massachusetts responded with an 
amendment extending the Missouri compromise to the new territory. On the 
23d Douglas reported that the committee had prepared several new amend- 
ments to the bill, changing the southern boundary from 36° 30' to 37°, pro- 
viding for two territories instead of one, and declaring the ISIissouri compro- 
mise inoperative in the new territories, on the ground that it had been super- 
seded by the compromise measures of 1S50. The bill as thus amended 
Douglas proposed to substitute for the bill previously reported. Debate in 
Committee of the Whole began Jan. 30. February 6 Douglas offered an 
amendment by which the Missouri compromise was to be declared "inconsist- 
ent" with the legislation of 1850, following this the next day with another 
amendment in the words of sec. 14 of the act as finally passed. This last 
amendment was agreed to on the 15th, by a vote of 35 to 10. March 4 the 
bill passed the Senate, after an all-night session, by a vote of 37 to 14. 

In the meantime Representative Miller of Missouri had introduced in the 
House, Dec. 22, a bill to organize the Territory of Nebraska. The bill went 
to the Committee on Territories, from which Richardson reported, Jan. 31, a 
bill to organize the Territories of Nebraska and Kansas. A minority report, 
advocating the application of squatter sovereignty to the two territories, was 
submitted by English of Indiana. The House bill did not regularly come up 
for consideration until May 8, but from Feb. 14 to April 28 either the House 



1854] DOUGLAS'S REPORT 399 

or Senate bill, and the general subject of territorial governments for Kansas 
and Nebraska, were discussed almost daily, regardless of the business nomi- 
nally before the House. March 21 the Senate bill was disposed of by refer- 
ring it to the Committee of the Whole, and was not again considered. May 8 
Richardson called up the Kansas-Nebraska bill, thirty bills and resolutions 
being successively laid aside until the bill was reached. The debate continued 
with increasing violence until the 22d, when, by a vote of 113 to 100, the 
House passed the bill with amendments. Douglas championed the bill in the 
Senate, where the debate was attended with intense excitement and frequent 
disorder. The bill passed the Senate May 26, without a division, and on the 
30th the act was approved. 

The form of government provided by the act did not differ essentially from 
that contained in other territorial acts. The extracts from the act following 
are limited to the sections defining the boundaries of the two territories, and 
the status of slavery. 

References. — The text is indicated in connection with each extract, fol- 
lowing. The House and Senate Journals, 33d Cong., ist Sess., give the 
record of proceedings; both proceedings and debates are reported at length 
in the Cong. Globe, and appendix. 



No. 109. Douglas's Report 

January 4, 1854 

******** 
The principal amendments which your committee deem it their 
duty to commend to the favorable action of the Senate, in a 
special report, are those in which the principles established by the 
compromise measures of 1850, so far as they are applicable to 
territorial organizations, are proposed to be affirmed and carried 
into practical operation within the limits of the new Territory. 

The wisdom of those measures is attested, not less by their 
salutary and beneficial effects, in allaying sectional agitation and 
restoring peace and harmony to an irritated and distracted people, 
than by the cordial and almost universal, approbation with which 
they have been received and sanctioned by the whole country. 
In the judgment of your committee, those measures were intended 
to have a far more com.prehensive and enduring effect than the 
mere adjustment of the difficulties arising out of the recent acqui- 
sition of Mexican territory. They were designed to establish 
certain great principles, which would not only furnish adequate 



400 KANSAS-NEBRASKA ACT [January 4 

remedies for existing evils, but, in all time to come, avoid the 
perils of a similar agitation, by withdrawing the question of slavery 
from the halls of Congress and the political arena, and committing 
it to the arbitrament of those who were immediately interested in, 
and alone responsible for its consequences. With the view of 
conforming their action to what they regard the settled policy of 
the government, sanctioned by the approving voice of the Ameri- 
can people, your committee have deemed it their duty to incor- 
porate and perpetuate, in their territorial bill, the principles and 
spirit of those measures. If any other consideration were necessary, 
to render the propriety of this course imperative upon the com- 
mittee, they may be found in the fact, that the Nebraska country 
occupies the same relative position to the slavery question, as did 
New Mexico and Utah, when those territories were organized. 

It was a disputed point, whether slavery was prohibited by law 
in the country acquired from Mexico. On the one hand it was 
contended, as a legal proposition, that slavery having been pro- 
hibited by the enactments of Mexico, according to the laws of 
nations, we received the country with all its local laws and domestic 
institutions attached to the soil, so far as they did not conflict with 
the Constitution of the United States; and that a law, either pro- 
tecting or prohibiting slavery, was not repugnant to that instru- 
ment, as was evidenced by the fact, that one-half of the States of 
the Union tolerated, while the other half prohibited, the institution 
of slavery On the other hand it was insisted that, by virtue of 
the Constitution of the United States, every citizen had a right to 
remove to any Territory of the Union, and carry his property with 
him under the protection of law, whether that property consisted 
in persons or things. . . . 

... a similar question has arisen in regard to the right to hold 
slaves in the proposed territory of Nebraska when the Indian 
laws shall be withdrawn, and the country thrown open to emigra- 
tion and settlement. [The report quotes the section of the Mis- 
souri Enabling Act (No. J "J, ante) relating to slavery, and continue-"!: 

Under this section, as in the case of the Mexican law in New 
Mexico and Utah, it is a disputed point whether slavery is pro- 
hibited in the Nebraska country by valid enactment. The deci- 
sion of this question involves the constitutional power of Congress 
to pass laws prescribing and regulating the domestic institutions 



1854] DOUGLAS'S REPORT 401 

of the various territories of the Union. In the opinion of those 
eminent statesmen, who hold that Congress is invested with no 
rightful authority to legislate upon the subject of slavery in the 
territories, the 8th section of the act preparatory to the admission 
of Missouri is null and void; while the prevailing sentiment in 
large portions of the Union sustains the doctrine that the Con- 
stitution of the United States secures to every citizen an inalien- 
able right to move into any of the territories with his property, of 
whatever kind and description, and to hold and enjoy the same 
under the sanction of law. Your committee do not feel themselves 
called upon to enter into the discussion of these controverted 
questions. They involve the same grave issues which produced the 
agitation, the sectional strife, and the fearful struggle of 1850. 
As Congress deemed it wise and prudent to refrain from deciding 
the matters in controversy then, either by affirming or repealing 
the Mexican laws, or by an act declaratory of the true intent of the 
Constitution and the extent of the protection afforded by it to 
slave property in the territories, so your committee are not pre- 
pared now to recommend a departure from the course pursued on 
that memorable occasion, either by affirming or repealing the 8th 
section of the Missouri act, or by any act declaratory of the mean- 
ing of the Constitution in respect to the legal points in dispute. 

Your committee deem it fortunate for the peace of the country, 
and the security of the Union, that the controversy then resulted 
in the adoption of the compromise measures, which the two great 
political parties, with singular unanimity, have affirmed as a car- 
dinal article of their faith, and proclaimed to the world, as a final 
settlement of the controversy and an end of the agitation. A due 
respect, therefore, for the avowed opinions of Senators, as well as a 
proper sense of patriotic duty, enjoins upon your committee the 
propriety and necessity of a strict adherence to the principles, and 
even a literal adoption of the enactments of that adjustment in all 
their territorial bills, so far as the same are not locally inappli- 
cable. ... 

[The report here quotes various provisions of the compromise 
acts of 1850, and concludes]: 

From these provisions it is apparent that the compromise 
measures of 1850 affirm and rest upon the following propositions 
— First : That all questions pertaining to slavery in the territories, 



402 . KANSAS-NEBRASKA ACT [January i6 

and in the new States to be formed therefrom, are to be left to the 
decision of the people residing therein, by their appropriate repre- 
sentatives, to be chosen by them for that purpose. 

Second: That "all cases involving title to slaves," and "ques- 
tions of personal freedom" are referred to the adjudication of the 
local tribunals, with the right of appeal to the Supreme Court of 
the United States. 

Third : That the provisions of the Constitution of the United 
States, in respect to fugitives from service, is to be carried into 
faithful execution in all "the organized territories" the same as in 
the States. The substitute for the bill which your committee have 
prepared, and which is commended to the favorable action of the 
Senate, proposes to carry these propositions and principles into 
practical operation, in the precise language of the compromise 
measures of 1850. 

[Senate Rep. 15, 33d Cong., ist Sess.] 



No. no. Dixon's Proposed Amendment 

January 16, 1854 

Sec. 22. And be if further enacted, That so much of the 8th 
section of . . . [the Missouri Enabling Act of March 6, 1820] 
... as declares "That in all that territory ceded by France to 
the United States, under the name of Louisiana, which lies north 
of 36 degrees 30 minutes north latitude, slavery and involuntary 
servitude, otherwise than in the punishment of crimes whereof 
the parties shall have been duly convicted, shall be forever pro- 
hibited," shall not be so construed as to apply to the Territory 
contemplated by this act, or to any other Territory of the United 
States; but that the citizens of the several States or Territories 
shall be at liberty to take and hold their slaves within any of the 
Territories of the United States, or of the States to be formed 
therefrom, as if the said act, entitled as aforesaid, and approved 
as aforesaid, had never been passed. 

[Cong. Globe, 33d Cong., ist Sess., 175.] 



1854] KANSAS-NEBRASKA ACT 403 



No. III. Sumner's Proposed Amendment 

January 17, 1854 

Provided, That nothing herein contained shall be construed to 
abrogate or in any way contravene . . . [the Missouri Enabling 
Act] . . . ; wherein it is expressly enacted that "in all that 
territory ceded by France to the United States, under the name 
of Louisiana, which lies north of thirty-six degrees and thirty 
minutes north latitude, not included within the limits of the State 
contemplated by this act, slavery and involuntary servitude, 
otherwise than in the punishment of crimes, whereof the party 
shall have been duly convicted, shall be, and is hereby, forever 
prohibited." 

\Cong. Globe, 33d Cong., ist Sess., 186.] 



No. 112. Extract from the Act to organize 
the Territories of Nebraska and Kansas 

May 30, 1854 

An Act to Organize the Territories of Nebraska and Kansas. 

Be it enacted . . . , That all that part of the territory of the 
United States included within the following limits, except such 
portions thereof as are hereinafter expressly exempted from the 
operations of this act, to wit : beginning at a point in the Missouri 
River where the fortieth parallel of north latitude crosses the same ; 
thence west on said parallel to the east boundary of the Territory 
of Utah, on the summit of the Rocky Mountains; thence on said 
summit northward to the forty-ninth parallel of north latitude; 
thence east on said parallel to the western boundary of the territory 
of Minnesota; thence southward on said boundary to the Missouri 
River; thence down the main channel of said river to the place 
of beginning, be, and the same is hereby, created into a temporary 
government by the name of the Territory of Nebraska ; and when 
admitted as a State or States, the said Territory, or any portion 



404 KANSAS-NEBRASKA ACT [May 30 

of the same, shall be received into the Union with or without 
slavery, as their constitution may prescribe at the time of their 
admission: . . . 

Sec. 9. [The section relates to the judicial system of the Ter- 
ritory.] . . . Writs of error, and appeals from the final decisions 
of said Supreme Court [of the Territory], shall be allowed, and 
may be taken to the Supreme Court of the United States, in the 
same manner and under the same regulations as from the circuit 
courts of the United States, where the value of the property, or the 
amount in controversy, to be ascertained by the oath or affirmation 
of either party, or other competent witness, shall exceed one 
thousand dollars; except only that in all cases involving title to 
slaves, the said writs of error, or appeals shall be allowed and de- 
cided by the said Supreme Court, without regard to the value of 
the matter, property, or title in controversy; . . . Provided, that 
nothing herein contained shall be construed to apply to or affect 
the provisions of the . . . [Fugitive Slave acts of 1793 and 
1850] . . . 

Sec. 10. And he it further enacted, That the provisions of . . . 
[the Fugitive Slave acts of 1793 and 1850] ... be, and the 
same are hereby, declared to extend to and be in full force within 
the limits of said Territory of Nebraska. 

Sec. 14. And be it further enacted, . . . That the Constitution, 
and all laws of the United States which are not locally inapplicable, 
shall have the same force and effect within the said Territory of 
Nebraska as elsewhere within the United States, except the eighth 
section of the act preparatory to the admission of Missouri into 
the Union, approved . . . [March 6, 1820] . . . , which, being 
inconsistent with the principle of non-intervention by Congress 
with slavery in the States and Territories, as recognized by the 
legislation of eighteen hundred and fifty, commonly called the 
Compromise Measures, is hereby declared inoperative and void; 
it being the true intent and meaning of this act not to legislate 
slavery into any Territory or State, nor to exclude it therefrom, 
but to leave the people thereof perfectly free to form and regulate 
their domestic institutions in their own way, subject only to the 
Constitution of the United States: Provided, That nothing herein 



1854] DRED SCOTT DECISION 405 

contained shall be construed to revive or put in force any law or 
regulation which may have existed prior to the act of . . . [March 
6, 1820] . . . , either protecting, establishing, prohibiting, or 
abolishing slavery. 

Sec. 19. And be it further enacted, That all that part of the 
Territory of the United States included within the following limits, 
except such portions thereof as are hereinafter expressly exempted 
from the operations of this act, to wit, beginning at a point on the 
western boundary of the State of Missouri, where the thirty-seventh 
parallel of north latitude crosses the same; thence west on said 
parallel to the eastern boundary of New Mexico ; thence north on 
said boundary to latitude thirty-eight ; thence following said boun- 
dary westward to the east boundary of the Territory of Utah, on the 
summit of the Rocky Mountains; thence northward on said summit 
to the fortieth parallel of latitude ; thence east on said parallel to 
the western boundary of the State of Missouri ; thence south with 
the western boundary of said State to the place of beginning, be, 
and the same is hereby, created into a temporary government by 
the name of the Territory of Kansas; and when admitted as a State 
or States, the said Territory, or any portion of the same, shall be 
received into the Union with or without slavery, as their Constitu- 
tion may prescribe at the time of their admission: . . , 

[Sections 27, 28, and 32 apply to the Territory of Kansas the 
provisions of sections 9, 10, and 14, respectively.] 

[U. S. Stat, at Large, X., 277-290.] 



No. 113. Dred Scott Decision 

March 6, 1857 

The main facts of the Dred Scott case (Dred Scott v. Sandford) are as 
follows: Dred Scott was a negro slave, the property of Dr. Emerson, a surgeon 
in the United States army. In 1834 Scott was taken by his owner from Mis- 
souri to the military post at Rock Island, 111., and from thence, in 1836, to 
Fjr*^ Snelling, on the west bank of the Mississippi, within the limits of the 
territory acquired from France in 1803, and north of 36° 30'. There Scott, 
with the consent of his owner, married. In 1838 Emerson took Scott and his 
family back to Missouri. In 1847 Scott brought suit in the circuit court of 
the State of Missouri to recover his freedom, on the ground of previous resi- 



4o6 DRED SCOTT DECISION [March 6 

dence in free territory. Judgment was rendered in his favor, but was re- 
versed in 1848 by the Missouri supreme court, to which the case was carried 
on writ of error. In the meantime, Scott and his family passed under the con- 
trol of John F. A. Sandford of New York. In 1853 Scott brought suit for 
damages against Sandford, in the United States circuit court for the district 
of Missouri, on the alleged ground of illegal detention of himself and family 
as slaves. The defendant pleaded that Scott, being a negro, and born of 
slave parents, could not be a citizen of Missouri, and hence could not be a party 
to a suit in the United States courts. The plea was overruled, but on other 
grounds Scott's claim to freedom was denied, and judgment rendered against 
him. The case was then appealed to the United States Supreme Court, 
where it was twice argued, in February and December, 1856. The decision 
was rendered March 6, 1857. Chief Justice Taney delivered the opinion of 
the court, but separate opinions were read by each of the eight associate 
justices. It has been well said that "to ascertain what the judgment of the 
court really was, it is necessary to compare the nine opinions and tabulate 
the results." The legal doctrine of the decision, so far as the question of 
slavery was concerned, was set aside by the Fourteenth Amendment to the 
Constitution. 

References. — Text in 19 Howard, 393-633. For contemporary dis- 
cussions, see Benton's Historical and Legal Examination of the Dred Scott 
Case; Gray and Lowell's Le^a/ Review of the Case of Dred Scott; Foot's 
Examination of the Case of Dred Scott. 

[Opinion of the Court.] 

. . . There are two leading questions presented by the record : 

1. Had the Circuit Court of the United States jurisdiction to 
hear and determine the case between these parties? And, 

2. If it had jurisdiction, is the judgment it has given erroneous 
or not? 

The plaintiff in error, who was also the plaintiff in the court be- 
low, was, with his wife and children, held as slaves by the defend- 
ant, in the State of Missouri, and he brought this action in the 
Circuit Court of the United States for that district, to assert the 
title of himself and his family to freedom. 

The declaration is in the form usually adopted in that State to 
try questions of this description, and contains the averment neces- 
sary to give the court jurisdiction ; that he and the defendant are 
citizens of different States; that is, that he is a citizen of Missouri, 
and the defendant a citizen of New York. 

The defendant pleaded in abatement to the jurisdiction of the 
court, that the plaintiff was not a citizen of the State of Missouri, 
as alleged in his declaration, being a negro of African descent, 



i8s7] DRED SCOTT DECISION 407 

whose ancestors were of pure African blood, and who were brought 
into this country and sold as slaves. 

To this plea the plaintiff demurred, and the defendant joined in 
demurrer. The court overruled the plea, and gave judgment that 
the defendant should answer over. And he therefore put in sun- 
dry pleas in bar, upon which issues were joined, and at the trial 
the verdict and judgment were in his favor. Whereupon the 
plaintiff brought this writ of error. 

Before we speak of the pleas in bar, it will be proper to dispose 
of the questions which have arisen on the plea in abatement. 

That plea denies the right of the plaintiff to sue in a court of 
the United States, for the reasons therein stated. 

If the question raised by it is legally before us, and the court 
should be of opinion that the facts stated in it disqualify the plain- 
tiff from becoming a citizen, in the sense in which that word is 
used in the Constitution of the United States, then the judgment 
of the Circuit Court is erroneous, and must be reversed. 

It is suggested, however, that this plea is not before us . . . 

[But] if the plea and demurrer, and judgment of the court 
below upon it, are before us upon this record, the question to be 
decided is, whether the facts stated in the plea are sufficient to 
show that the plaintiff is not entitled to sue as a citizen in a court 
of the United States. 

We think they are before us . . . and it becomes, therefore, our 
duty to decide whether the facts stated in the plea are or are not 
sufficient to show that the plaintiff is not entitled to sue as a citi- 
zen in a court of the United States. 

This is certainly a very serious question, and one that now for 
the first time. has been brought for decision before this court. 
But it is brought here by those who have a right to bring it, and 
it is our duty to meet it and decide it. 

The question is simply this : can a negro, whose ancestors were 
imported into this country and sold as slaves, become a member 
of the political community formed and brought into existence by 
the Constitution of the United States, and as such become entitled 
to all the rights, and privileges, and immunities, guarantied by 
that instrument to the citizen. One of these rights is the privilege 
of suing in a court of the United States in the cases specified in 
the Constitution. . . . The court must be understood as speak- 



4o8 DRED SCOTT DECISION [March 6 

ing in this opinion ... of those persons [only] who are the 
descendants of Africans who were imported into this country and 
sold as slaves. . . . 

We proceed to examine the case as presented by the pleadings. 

The words "people of the United States" and "citizens" are 
synonymous terms, and mean the same thing. They both describe 
the political body who, according to our republican institutions, 
form the sovereignty, and who hold the power and conduct the 
government through their representatives. They are what we 
familiarly call the "sovereign people," and every citizen is one 
of this people, and a constituent member of this sovereignty. 
The question before us is, whether the class of persons described 
in the plea in abatement compose a portion of this people, and 
are constituent members of this sovereignty? We think they are 
not, and that they are not included, and were not intended to be 
included, under the word "citizens" in the Constitution, and can, 
therefore, claim none of the rights and privileges which that 
instrument provides for and secures to citizens of the United 
States. On the contrary, they were at that time considered as 
a subordinate and inferior class of beings, who had been subju- 
gated by the dominant race, and whether emancipated or not, yet 
remained subject to their authority, and had no rights or privileges 
but such as those who held the power and the government might 
choose to grant them. ... 

In discussing this question, we must not confound the rights 
of citizenship which a state may confer within its own limits, and 
the rights of citizenship as a member of the Union. It does not 
by any means follow, because he has all the rights and privileges 
of a citizen of a State, that he must be a citizen of the United 
States. He may have all of the rights and privileges of the 
citizen of a State, and yet not be entitled to the rights and privi- 
leges of a citizen in any other State. For, previous to the adop- 
tion of the Constitution of the United States, every State had the 
undoubted right to confer on whomsoever it pleased the character 
of a citizen, and to endow him with all its rights. But this char- 
acter, of course, was confined to the boundaries of the State, and 
gave him no rights or privileges in other States beyond those 
secured to him by the laws of nations and the comity of States. 
Nor have the several States surrendered the power of conferring 



1857] DRED SCOTT DECISION 409 

these rights and privileges by adopting the Constitution of the 
United States. Each State may still confer them upon an alien, 
or any one it thinks proper, or upon any class or description of 
persons; yet he would not be a citizen in the sense in which that 
word is used in the Constitution of the United States, nor entitled 
to sue as such in one of its courts, nor to the privileges and immu- 
nities of a citizen in the other States. The rights which he would 
acquire would be restricted to the State which gave them. . . . 

It is very clear, therefore, that no State can, by any Act or law 
of its own, passed since the adoption of the Constitution, intro- 
duce a new member into the political community created by the 
Constitution of the United States. It cannot make him a member 
of this community by making him a member of its own. And for 
the same reason it cannot introduce any person, or description of 
persons, who were not intended to be embraced in this new politi- 
cal family, which the Constitution brought into existence, but were 
intended to be excluded from it. 

The question then arises, whether the provisions of the Consti- 
tution, in relation to the personal rights and privileges to which 
the citizen of a State should be entitled, embraced the negro 
African race, at that time in this country, or who might afterwards 
be imported, who had then or should afterwards be made free in 
any State; and to put it in the power of a single State to make 
him a citizen of the United States, and endue him with the full 
rights of citizenship in every other State without their consent. 
Does the Constitution of the United States act upon him when- 
ever he shall be made free under the laws of a State, and raised 
there to the rank of a citizen, and immediately clothe him with 
all the privileges of a citizen in every other State, and in its own 
courts ? 

The court think the affirmative of these propositions cannot be 
maintained. And if it cannot, the plaintiff in error could not be a 
citizen of the State of Missouri, within the meaning of the Consti- 
tution of the United States, and, consequently, was not entitled to 
sue in its courts. 

It is true, every person, and every class and description of per- 
sons, who were at the time of the adoption of the Constitution 
recognized as citizens in the several States, became also citizens 
of this new poHtical body; but none other; it was formed by 



4IO DRED SCOTT DECISION [March 6 

them, and for them and their posterity, but for no one else. And 
the personal rights and privileges guarantied to citizens of this 
new sovereignty were intended to embrace those only who were 
then members of the several state communities, or who should 
afterwards, by birthright or otherwise, become members, accord- 
ing to the provisions of the Constitution and the principles on 
which it was founded. It was the union of those who were at 
that time members of distinct and separate political communities 
into one political family, whose power, for certain specified pur- 
poses, was to extend over the whole territory of the United States. 
And it gave to each citizen rights and privileges outside of his 
State which he did not before possess, and placed him in every 
other State upon a perfect equality with its own citizens as to 
rights of person and rights of property; it made him a citizen 
of the United States. 

It becomes necessary, therefore, to determine who were citizens 
of the several States when the Constitution was adopted. And in 
order to do this, we must recur to the governments and institu- 
tions of the thirteen Colonies, when they separated from Great 
Britain and formed new sovereignties. . . . We must inquire who, at 
that time, were recognized as the people or citizens of a State . . . 

In the opinion of the court, the legislation and histories of the 
times, and the language used in the Declaration of Independence, 
show, that neither the class of persons who had been imported 
as slaves, nor their descendants, whether they had become free 
or not, were then acknowledged as a part of the people, nor 
intended to be included in the general words used in that memo- 
rable instrument. . . . 

The legislation of the different Colonics furnishes positive and 
indisputable proof of this fact. . . . 

The language of the Declaration of Independence is equally 
conclusive. ... 

This state of public opinion had undergone no change when 
the Constitution was adopted, as is equally evident from its pro- 
visions and language. 

The legislation of the States therefore shows, in a manner not 
to be mistaken, the inferior and subject condition of that race at 
the time the Constitution was adopted, and long afterwards, 
throughout the thirteen States by which that instrument was 



1857] DRED SCOTT DECISION 411 

framed; and it is hardly consistent with the respect due to these 
States, to suppose that they regarded at that time, as fellow-citizens 
and members of the sovereignty, a class of beings whom they had 
thus stigmatized; whom, as we are bound, out of respect to the 
State sovereignties, to assume they had deemed it just and neces- 
sary thus to stigmatize, and upon whom they had impressed such 
deep and enduring maAs of inferiority and degradation ; or that 
when they met in convention to form the Constitution, they looked 
upon them as a portion of their constituents, or designed to include 
them in the provisions so carefully inserted for the security and 
protection of the liberties and rights of their citizens. It cannot 
be supposed that they intended to secure to them rights, and 
privileges, and rank, in the new political body throughout the 
Union, which every one of them denied within the limits of its 
own dominion. More especially, it cannot be believed that the 
large slave-holding States regarded them as included in the word 
"citizens," or would have consented to a constitution which might 
compel them to receive them in that character from another State. 
For if they were so received, and entitled to the privileges and 
immunities of citizens, it would exempt them from the operation 
of the special laws and from the police regulations which they 
considered to be necessary for their own safety. It would give 
to persons of the negro race, who were recognized as citizens in 
any one State of the Union, the right to enter every other State 
whenever they pleased, singly or in companies, without pass or 
passport, and without obstruction, to sojourn there as long as they 
pleased, to go where they pleased at every hour of the day or 
night without molestation, unless they committed some violation 
of law for which a white man would be punished; and it would 
give them the full liberty of speech in public and in private upon 
all subjects upon which its own citizens might speak; to hold 
public meetings upon political affairs, and to keep and carry arms 
wherever they went. And all of this would be done in the face 
of the subject race of the same color, both free and slaves, inevi- 
tably producing discontent and insubordination among them, and 
endangering the peace and safety of the State. . . . 

To all this mass of proof we have still to add, that Congress 
has repeatedly legislated upon the same construction of the Con- 
stitution that we have given. . . . 



412 DRED SCOTT DECISION [March 6 

The conduct of the Executive Department of the government 
has been in perfect harmony upon this subject with this course of 
legislation. . . , 

But it is said that a person may be a citizen, and entitled to 
that character, although he does not possess all the rights which 
may belong to other citizen: ; as, for example, the right to vote, 
or to hold particular offices; and that yet, when he goes into 
another State, he is entitled to be recognized there as a citizen, 
although the State may measure his rights by the rights which it 
allows to persons of a like character or class, resident in the State, 
and refuse to him the full rights of citizenship. 

This argument overlooks the language of the provision in the 
Constitution of which we are speaking. 

Undoubtedly, a person may be a citizen, that is, a member of 
the community who form the sovereignty, although he exercises no 
share of the political power, and is incapacitated from holding par- 
ticular offices. . . . 

So, too, a person may be entitled to vote by the law of the 
State, who is not a citizen even of the State itself. And in some 
of the States of the Union foreigners not naturalized are allowed 
to vote. And the State may give the right to free negroes and 
mulattoes, but that does not make them citizens of the State, and 
still less of the United States. And the provision in the Consti- 
tution giving privileges and immunities in other States, does not 
apply to them. 

Neither does it apply to a person who, being the citizen of a 
State, migrates to another State. For then he becomes subject 
to the laws of the State in which he lives, and he is no longer a 
citizen of the State from which he removed. And the State in 
which he resides may then, unquestionably, determine his status 
or condition, and place him among the class of persons who are 
not recognized as citizens, but belong to an inferior and subject 
race; and may deny him the privileges and immunities enjoyed 
by its citizens. 

. . . But if he ranks as a citizen of the State to which he be- 
longs, within the meaning of the Constitution of the United States, 
then, whenever he goes into another State, the Constitution clothes 
him, as to the rights of person, with all the privileges and im- 
munities which belong to citizens of the State. And if persons 



1857] DRED SCOTT DECISION 413 

of the African race are citizens of a state, and of the United States, 
they would be entitled to all of these privileges and immunities 
in every State, and the State could not restrict them; for they 
would hold these privileges and immunities, under the paramount 
authority of the Federal Government, and its courts would be 
bound to maintain and enforce them, the Constitution and laws 
of the State to the contrary notwithstanding. And if the State 
could limit or restrict them, or place the party in an inferior grade, 
this clause of the Constitution would be unmeaning, and could 
have no operation; and would give no rights to the citizen when 
in another State. He would have none but what the State itself 
chose to allow him. This is evidently not the construction or 
meaning of the clause in question. It guaranties rights to the 
citizen, and the State cannot withhold them. And these rights 
are of a character and would lead to consequences which make 
it absolutely certain that the African race were not included under 
the name of citizens of a State, and were not in the contemplation 
of the framers of the Constitution when these privileges and im- 
munities were provided for the protection of the citizen in other 
States. . . . 

And upon a full and careful consideration of the subject, the 
court is of opinion that, upon the facts stated in the plea in abate- 
ment, Dred Scott was not a citizen of Missouri within the meaning 
of the Constitution of the United States, and not entitled as such 
to sue in its courts; and, consequently, that the Circuit Court 
had no jurisdiction of the case, and that the judgment on the plea 
in abatement is erroneous. . . . 

We proceed, therefore, to inquire whether the facts relied on by 
the plaintiff entitled him to his freedom. . , . 

In considering this part of the controversy, two questions arise : 
ist. Was he, together with his family, free in Missouri by reason 
of the stay in the territory of the United States hereinbefore men- 
tioned? And 2d, If they were not, is Scott himself free by reason 
of his removal to Rock Island, in the State of Illinois, as stated in 
the above admissions? 

We proceed to e.xamine the first question. 

The Act of Congress, upon which the plaintiff relies, declares 
that slavery and involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for 
crime, shall be forever prohibited in all that part of the territory 



414 DRED SCOTT DECISION [March 6 

ceded by France, under the name of Louisiana, which lies north 
of thirty-six degrees thirty minutes north latitude, and not included 
within the hmits of Missouri. And the difhcuhy which meets us 
at the threshold of this part of the inquiry is, whether Congress 
was authorized to pass this law under any of the powers granted 
to it by the Constitution ; for if the authority is not given by that 
instrument, it is the duty of this court to declare it void and inop- 
erative, and incapable of conferring freedom upon any one who is 
held as a slave under the laws of any one of the States. 

The counsel for the plaintiff has laid much stress upon that arti- 
cle in the Constitution which confers on Congress the power "to 
dispose of and make all needful rules and regulations respecting 
the territory or other property belonging to the United States ..." 

It seems, however, to be supposed, that there is a difference 
between property in a slave and other property, and that different 
rules may be applied to it in expounding the Constitution of the 
United States. And the laws and usages of nations, and the writ- 
ings of eminent jurists upon the relation of master and slave and 
their mutual rights and duties, and the powers which governments 
may exercise over it, have been dwelt upon in the argument. 

But in considering the question before us, it must be borne in 
mind that there is no law of nations standing between the people 
of the United States and their government and interfering with 
their relation to each other. . , . And no laws or usages of other 
nations, or reasoning of statesmen or jurists upon the relations 
of master and slave, can enlarge the powers of the government, 
or take from the citizens the rights they have reserved. And if 
the Constitution recognizes the right of property of the master 
in a slave, and makes no distinction between that description of 
property and other property owned by a citizen, no tribunal, 
acting under the authority of the United States, whether it be 
legislative, executive, or judicial, has a right to draw such a dis- 
tinction, or deny to it the benefit of the provisions and guarantees 
which have been provided for the protection of private property 
against the encroachments of the government. 

Now . . . the right of property in a slave is distinctly and ex- 
pressly affirmed in the Constitution. The right to traffic in it, 
like an ordinary article of merchandise and property, was guaran- 
tied to the citizens of the United States, in every State that might 



i8s7] DRED SCOTT DECISION 415 

desire it, for twenty years. And the government in express terms 
is pledged to protect it in all future time, if the slave escapes from 
his owner. . . . And no word can be found in the Constitution 
which gives Congress a greater power over slave property, or which 
entitles property of that kind to less protection than property of 
any other description. The only power conferred is the power 
coupled with the duty of guarding and protecting the owner in his 
rights. 

Upon these considerations, it is the opinion of the court that 
the Act of Congress which prohibited a citizen from holding and 
owning property of this kind in the territory of the United States 
north of the line therein mentioned, is not warranted by the Con- 
stitution, and is therefore void; and that neither Dred Scott him- 
self, nor any of his family, were made free by being carried into 
this territory; even if they had been carried there by the owner, 
with the intention of becoming a permanent resident. . . . 

But there is another point in the case which depends on state 
power and state law. And it is contended, on the part of the 
plaintiff, that he is made free by being taken to Rock Island, in 
the State of Illinois, independently of his residence in the territory 
of the United States; and being so made free, he was not again 
reduced to a state of slavery by being brought back to Missouri. 

... as Scott was a slave when taken into the State of Illinois 
by his owner, and was there held as such, and brought back in 
that character, his status, as free or slave, depended on the laws 
of Missouri, and not of Illinois. 

It has, however, been urged in the argument, that by the laws 
of Missouri he was free on his return ... But ... we are 
satisfied, upon a careful examination of all the cases decided in 
the State courts of Missouri referred to, that it is now firmly 
settled by the decisions of the highest court in the State, that Scott 
and his family upon their return were not free, but were, by the 
laws of Missouri, the property of the defendant; and that the 
Circuit Court of the United States had no jurisdiction, when, 
by the laws of the State, the plaintiff was a slave, and not a 
citizen. . . . 

Upon the whole, therefore, it is the judgment of this court, 
that it appears by the record before us that the plaintiff in error 
is not a citizen of Missouri, in the sense in which that word is 



4l6 DRED SCOTT DECISION [March 6 

used in the Constitution; and that the Circuit Court of the 
United States, for that reason, *ad no jurisdiction in the case, 
and could give no judgment in it. 

Its judgment for the defendant must, consequently, be reversed, 
and a mandate issued directing the suit to be dismissed for want 
of jurisdiction. 

Justice Curtis's Dissenting Opinion 

[After a learned discussion of law points, the opinion con- 
tinues :] 

So that, under the allegations contained in this plea, and ad- 
mitted by the demurrer, the question is, whether any person of 
African descent, whose ancestors were sold as slaves in the United 
States, can be a citizen of the United States. If any such person 
can be a citizen, this plaintiff has the right to the judgment of 
the court that he is so; for no cause is shown by the plea why he 
is not so, except his descent and the slavery of his ancestors. 

The ist Section of the 2d Article of the Constitution uses the 
language, "a citizen of the United States at the time of the adop- 
tion of the Constitution." One mode of approaching this ques- 
tion is, to inquire who were citizens of the United States at the 
time of the adoption of the Constitution. 

Citizens of the United States at the time of the adoption of the 
Constitution can have been no other than the citizens of the United 
States under the Confederation. . . . 

To determine whether any free persons, descended from Africans 
held in slavery, were citizens of the United States under the Con- 
federation, and consequently at the time of the adoption of the 
Constitution of the United States, it is only necessary to know 
whether any such persons were citizens of either of the States 
under the Confederation ?X the time of the adoption of the Con- 
stitution. 

Of this there can be no doubt. At the time of the ratification 
of tho Articles of Confederation, all free native-born inhabitants of 
the States of New Hampshire, Massachusetts, New York, New 
Jersey and North Carolina, though descended from African slaves, 
were not only citizens of those States, but such of them as had the 
other necessary qualifications possessed the franchise of electors, 
on equal terms with other citizens. . . . 



l8s7] DRED SCOTT DECISION 417 

I can find nothing in the Constitution which, propria vigore, 
deprives of their citizenship any class of persons who were citizens 
of the United States at the time of its adoption, or who should be 
native-born citizens of any State after its adoption ; nor any power 
enabling Congress to disfranchise persons born on the soil of any 
State, and entitled to citizenship of such State by its constitution 
and laws. And my opinion is, that, under the Constitution of the 
United States, every free person born on the soil of a State, who is 
a citizen of that State by force of its Constitution or laws, is also a 
citizen of the United States. . . . 

The Constitution having recognized the rule that persons born 
within the several States are citizens of the United States, one of 
four things must be true : 

First. That the Constitution itself has described what native- 
born persons shall or shall not be citizens of the United States ; or. 

Second. That it has empowered Congress to do so ; or. 

Third. That all free persons, born within the several States, 
are citizens of the United States ; or. 

Fourth. That it is left to each State to determine what free 
persons, born within its limits, shall be citizens of such State, and 
thereby be citizens of the United States. . . . 

The conclusions at which I have arrived on this part of the case 
are: 

First. That the free native-born citizens of each State are 
citizens of the United States. 

Second. That as free colored persons born within some of the 
States are citizens of those States, such persons are also citizens of 
the United States. 

Third. That every such citizen, residing in any State, has the 
right to sue and is liable to be sued in the federal courts, as a 
citizen of that State in which he resides. 

Fourth. That as the plea to the jurisdiction in this case shows 
no facts, except that the plaintiff was of African descent, and his 
ancestors were sold as slaves, and as these facts are not inconsist- 
ent with his citizenship of the United States, and his residence in 
the State of Missouri, the plea to the jurisdiction was bad, and the 
judgment of the Circuit Court overruling it, was correct. 

I dissent, therefore, from that part of the opinion of the majority 
of the court, in which it is held that a person of African descent 



4l8 DRED SCOTT DECISION [March d 

cannot be a citizen of the United States; and I regret I must go 
further, and dissent both from what I deem their assumption of 
authority to examine the constitutionahty of the Act of Congress 
commonly called the Missouri Compromise Act, and the grounds 
and conclusions announced in their opinion. . . . 

But as, in my opinion, the Circuit Court had jurisdiction, I am 
obliged to consider the question whether its judgment on the 
merits of the case should stand or be reversed. 

The residence of the plaintiff in the State of Illinois, and the 
residence of himself and his wife in the Territory acquired from 
France lying north of latitude thirty-six degrees thirty minutes, 
and north of the State of Missouri, are each relied on by the 
plaintiff in error. As the residence in the Territory affects the 
plaintiff's wife and children as well as himself, I must inquire what 
was its effect. 

The general question may be stated to be, whether the plaintiff's 
status, as a slave, was so changed by his residence within that Ter- 
ritory, that he was not a slave in the State of Missouri, at the time 
this action was brought. 

In such cases, two inquiries arise, which may be confounded, but 
should be kept distinct. 

The iirst is, what was the law of the Territory into which the 
master and slave went, respecting the relation between them ? 

The second is, whether the State of Missouri recognizes and 
allows the effect of that law of the Territory, on the status of the 
slave, on his return within its jurisdiction. . . . 

To avoid misapprehension on this important and difficult sub- 
ject, I will state, distinctly, the conclusions at which I have arrived. 
They are : 

First. The rules of international law respecting the emancipa- 
tion of slaves, by the rightful operation of the laws of another 
State or country upon the status of the slave, while resident in such 
foreign State or country, are part of the common law of Missouri, 
and have not been abrogated by any statute law of that State. 

Second. The laws of the United States, constitutionally enacted, 
which operated directly on and changed the status of a slave com- 
ing into the Territory of Wisconsin with his master, who went 
thither to reside for an indefinite length of time, in the performance 
of his duties as an officer of the United States, had a rightful opera- 



1S57] DRED SCOTT DECISION 419 

tion on the staltis of the slave, and it is in conformity with the 
rules of international law that this change of status should be 
recognized everywhere. 

Third. The laws of the United States, in operation in the Ter- 
ritory of Wisconsin at the time of the plaintiff's residence there, 
did act directly on the status of the plaintiff, and change his status 
to that of a free man. . . . 

Fifth. That the consent of the master that his slave, residing 
in a country which does not tolerate slavery, may enter into a 
lawful contract of marriage, attended with the civil rights and 
duties which belong to that condition, is an effectual act of eman- 
cipation. . . . 

I have thus far assumed, merely for the purpose of the argu- 
ment, that the laws of the United States, respecting slavery in this 
Territory, were Constitutionally enacted by Congress. It remains 
to inquire whether they are constitutional and binding laws. . . . 

But it is insisted, that whatever other power Congress may have 
respecting the Territory of the United States, the subject of negro 
slavery forms an exception. . . . 

While the regulation is one "respecting the Territory," while it 
is, in the judgment of Congress, "a needful regulation," and is 
thus completely within the words of the grant, while no other 
clause of the Constitution can be shown, which requires the inser- 
tion of an exception respecting slavery, and while the practical 
construction for a period of upwards of fifty years forbids such an 
exception, it would, in my opinion, violate every sound rule of 
interpretation to force that exception into the Constitution upon 
the strength of abstract political reasoning, which we are bound 
to believe the people of the United States thought insufficient to 
induce them to limit the power of Congress, because what they 
have said contains no such limitation. . . . 

But it is further insisted that the Treaty of 1803, between the 
United States and France, by which this Territory was acquired, 
has so restrained the constitutional powers of Congress, that it 
cannot, by law, prohibit the introduction of slavery into that part 
of this Territory north and west of Missouri, and north of thirty- 
six degrees thirty minutes north latitude. 

By a treaty with a foreign nation, the United States may right- 
fully stipulate that the Congress will or will not exercise its legis- 



420 LECOMPTON CONSTITUTION [November 7 

lative power in some particular manner, on some particular sub- 
ject. . . . But that a treaty with a foreign nation can deprive 
the Congress of any part of the legislative power conferred by the 
people, so that it no longer can legislate as it was empowered by 
the Constitution to do, I more than doubt. . . . 

But, in my judgment, this Treaty contains no stipulation in any 
manner affecting the action of the United States respecting the 
Territory in question. ... In my opinion, this Treaty has no 
bearing on the present question. 

For these reasons, I am of opinion that so much of the several 
Acts of Congress as prohibited slavery and involuntary servitude 
within that part of the Territory of Wisconsin lying north of thirty- 
six degrees thirty minutes north latitude, and west of the River 
Mississippi, were constitutional and valid laws. . . . 

In my opinion, the judgment of the Circuit Court should be re- 
versed, and the cause remanded for a new trial. 



No. 114. Lecompton Constitution 

November 7, 1857 

A FREE State convention sitting at Topeka, in Kansas Territory, from Oct. 
23 to Nov. 5, 1855, drew up a State constitution prohibiting slavery, which 
was submitted to the people Dec. 15, and adopted by a vote of 1,731 to 46, 
only free State men voting. A bill to admit Kansas under this constitution 
passed the House July 3, 1856, but failed in the Senate. A free State legis- 
lature, assuming to meet under the Topeka constitution, was dispersed by the 
United States troops, and a period of civil war in the Territory followed. 
September 5, 1857, a convention called by the proslavery legislature of the 
Territory met at Lecompton and drew up a constitution, which was sub- 
mitted to the people for adoption "with slavery" or "without slavery." The 
free State men, who objected to having the Lecompton constitution on any 
terms, refrained from voting, and Dec. 21 the constitution "with slavery" 
was adopted by a vote of 6,143, against 589 for the constitution "without 
slavery." In the meantime, however, the free State party had got control of 
the Territorial legislature, and Jan. 4, 1858, the constitution was rejected by 
a majority of more than 10,000. A bill to admit Kansas under the Lecomp- 
ton constitution passed the Senate March 23, 1858, by a vote of ^;} to 25. 
April I the House, by a vote of 120 to 112, substituted a bill resubmitting the 
constitution to popular vote. The two Houses then compromised on the 
"English bill" (act of May 4, 1858), "according to which a substitute for 
the land ordinance of the Lecompton constitution was to be submitted to 



i8s7] LECOMPTON CONSTITUTION 42 1 

popular vote in Kansas; if it was accepted, the State was to be considered as 
admitted ; if it was rejected, the Lecomptcn constitution was to be considered 
as rejected by the people, and no further constitutional convention was to be 
held until a census should have z'i'\c vn that the population of the Territory 
equalled or exceeded that required ' :,' a representative" (Johnston). August 
3 the land ordinance was rejected by a vote of 11,088 to 1,788. The Wyan- 
dotte constitution, prohibiting sla\ery, was ratified by popular vote Oct. 4. 
1859. Under this constitution Kansas was admitted to the Union Jan. 29, 
1861, 

The following extracts comprise the provisions of the Lecompton constitu- 
tion relating to slavery, the status of negroes, and ratification. 

References. — Text in Poore's Federal and State Constitutions, I., 598- 
613, passim. For the struggle in Congress over the admission of Kansas, see 
the House and Senate Journals, 34th, 35th, and 36th Cong., and the Cong. 
Globe. 

Article V. 

Sec. 25. It shall be the duty of all civil officers of this State to 
use due diligence in the securing and rendition of persons held 
to service or labor in this State, either of the States or Territories 
of the United. States ; and the legislature shall enact such laws as 
may be necessary for the honest and faithful carrying out of this 
provision of the constitution. 

Article VII. 

SLAVERY. 

Section i. The right of property is before and higher than 
any constitutional sanction, and the right of the owner of a slave 
to such slave and its increase is the same, and as inviolable as 
the right of the owner of any property whatever. 

Sec. 2. The legislature shall have no power to pass laws for 
the emancipation of slaves without the consent of the owners, or 
without paying the owners previous to their emancipation a full 
equivalent in money for the slaves so emancipated. They shall 
have no power to prevent emigrants to the State from bringing 
with them such persons as are deemed slaves by the laws of any 
one of the United States or Territories, so long as any person of 
the same age or description shall be continued in slavery by the 
laws of this State: Provided, That such person or slave be the 
bona-fide property of such emigrants: And provided also, That 
lav/s may be passed to prohibit the introduction into this State of 



422 LECOMPTON CONSTITUTION [November 7 

slaves who have committed high crimes in other States or Terri- 
tories. They shall have power. to pass laws to permit the owners 
of slaves to emancipate them, saving the rights of creditors, and 
preventing them from becoming a public charge. They shall have 
power to oblige the owners of slaves to treat them with humanity, 
to provide for them necessary food and clothing, to abstain from 
all injuries to them extending to life or limb, and, in case of their 
neglect or refusal to comply with the direction of such laws, to 
have such slave or slaves sold for the benefit of the owner or 
owners. 

Sec. 3. In the prosecution of slaves for crimes of higher grade 
than petit larceny, the legislature shall have no power to deprive 
them of an impartial trial by a petit jury. 

Sec. 4. Any person who shall maliciously dismember or de- 
prive a slave of life shall suffer such punishment as would be 
inflicted in case the like offence had been committed on a free 
white person, and on the like proof, except in case of insurrection 
of such slave. 

Bill of Rights. 

23. Free negroes shall not be permitted to live in this State 
under any circumstances. 

Schedule. 

Sec. 7. This constitution shall be submitted to the Congress of 
the United States at its next ensuing session . . . 

Before this constitution shall be sent to Congress, asking for 
admission into the Union as a State, it shall be submitted to all 
the white male inhabitants of this Territory, for approval or dis- 
approval, as follows: . . . The voting shall be by ballot. The 
judges of said election shall cause to be kept two poll-books by 
two clerks, by them appointed. The ballots cast at said election 
shall be endorsed, " Constitution with slavery," and "Constitu- 
tion with no slavery." , . . The president [of the convention] 
with two or more members of this convention, shall examine 
said poll-books, and if it shall appear upon said examination that 
a majority of the legal votes cast at said election be in favor of the 
"Constitution with slavery," he shall immediately have the same 
transmitted to the Congress of the United States, as hereinbefore 



1857] ORDINANCE OF SECESSION 423 

provided; but if, upon such examination of said poll-books, it 
shall appear that a majority of the legal votes cast at said election 
be in favor of the "Constitution with no slavery," then the article 
providing for slavery shall be stricken from this constitution by the 
president of this convention, and slavery shall no longer exist in 
the State of Kansas, except that the right of property in slaves 
now in this Territory shall in no manner be interferred with, 
and shall have transmitted the constitution, so ratified, (to Con- 
gress the constitution, so ratified,) to the Congress of the United 
States, as hereinbefore provided. . . . 



No. 115. South Carolina Ordinance of 
Secession 

December 20, i860 

It was clear that the success of the Republicans in the election of i860 
would mean the exclusion of slavery from the Territories. The legislature of 
South Carolina met Nov. 4 to choose presidential electors, and remained in 
session until it was known that Lincoln had been elected. On the 7th an act 
was passed calling a State convention, to meet at Columbia Dec. 17, to con- 
sider the question of withdrawing from the Union. The convention met at 
the time and place appointed, but adjourned to Charleston because of an epi- 
demic of small-pox in Columbia. On the 20th an ordinance of secession was 
unanimously adopted by the one hundred and sixty-nine delegates present, 
and the president of the convention proclaimed South Carolina to be "an 
independent Commonwealth." On the 21st the Representatives of the State 
in Congress announced their withdrawal from the House. A "Declaration 
of the immediate causes which induce and justify the secession of South 
Carolina from the Federal Union" was adopted on the 24th. 

References. — Text in War of the Rebellion, Official Records, Series I., 
vol. I., p. no. For the proceedings of the convention, see Amer. Annual 
Cyclopcedia, 1861, pp. 646-657; Moore's Rebellion Record, I., Doc. 2. The 
declaration of causes, and ordinances of secession passed by the other Southern 
States, are collected in Amer. Hist. Leaflets, No. 12. On the steps prelimi- 
nary to secession, see Pike's First Blows of the Civil War. Buchanan de- 
fended his official conduct during 1860-61 in The Administration on the Eve 
of the Rebellion (London, 1865) ; a later defence is in Curtis's Buchanan, II., 
chap. 15. 



424 CONSTITUTION OF CONFEDERATE STATES [March ii 

An Ordinance to dissolve the union between the State of South Caro- 
lina and the other States united with her under the compact entitled " The 
Constitution of the United States of America " : 

We, the people of the State of South Carolina in convention 
assembled, do declare and ordain, and it is hereby declared and 
ordained, that the ordinance adopted by us in convention on . . . 
[May 23, 1788] . . . , whereby the Constitution of the United 
States of America was ratified, and also all acts and parts of acts 
of the general assembly of this State ratifying amendments of the 
said Constitution, are hereby repealed; and that the union now 
subsisting between South Carolina and other States, under the 
name of the " United States of America," is hereby dissolved. 



No. 116. Constitution of the Confederate 
States of America 

March 11, 1861 

The secession of South Carolina was followed, Jan. 9, 1861, by similar 
action in Mississippi. Ordinances of secession were adopted by Florida 
Jan. 10, Alabama Jan. 11, Georgia Jan. 19, and Louisiana Jan. 26. A reso- 
lution of the legislature of Mississippi, Jan. 19, in favor of a congress of repre- 
sentatives from the seceded States to form a provisional government, was 
endorsed by the other States, and Feb. 8 a congress at Montgomery, Ala., 
adopted a provisional constitution. A permanent constitution was adopted 
March 11, and signed by delegates from each of the States above named, and 
by those of Texas, which had passed an ordinance of secession Feb. i. The 
constitution was ratified by conventions in the several States. The first elec- 
tion under the permanent constitution was held Nov. 6, 1861. The congress 
under the permanent constitution met Feb. 18, 1862, superseding the provi- 
sional congress. The Confederate States of America were accorded bellig- 
erent rights by England and France through proclamations of neutrality, but 
were never formally recognized as a government, either by the United States 
or by any foreign power. 

The permanent constitution was modelled after the Constitution of the 
United States, and is in the main a reproduction of that instrument, with 
verbal or minor changes necessary to adapt it to the style of the new confed- 
eracy. All the sections embodying other than verbal or formal changes are 
given in the extracts following, with references to facilitate comparison be- 
tween the two documents. 

References. — Text in Com/. Stat, at Large (Richmond, 1864, ed. Mat- 



i86i] CONSTITUTION OF CONFEDERATE STATES 425 

thews), 11-22, where is also the provisional constitution. A convenient re- 
print, with the texts of the Confederate constitution and the Constitution of 
the United States in parallel columns, is in Davis's Confederate Government, 
I., 648-673. The archives of the Confederate government are in the pos- 
session of the War Department. The official acts of the Confederacy are 
best followed in the Journal of the Congress {Sen. Docs., 58th Cong., 2d Sess., 
vols. 25-31), and Richardson's Messages and Papers of the Confederacy; 
see also Moore's Rebellion Record; Anier. Annual Cyclopcedia, 1861-65; 
McPherson's Hist, of the Rebellion. 

We, the people of the Confederate States, each State acting in 
its sovereign and independent character, in order to form a per- 
manent federal government, estabUsh justice, insure domestic tran- 
quiUity, and secure the blessings of Uberty to ourselves and our 
posterity — invoking the favor and guidance of Almighty God — 
do ordain and establish this Constitution for the Confederate States 
of America.^ 

Article I. 



SECTION 2. 

I. The House of Representatives shall be composed of mem- 
bers chosen every second year by the people of the several States ; 
and the electors in each State shall be citizens of the Confederate 
States, and have the qualifications requisite for electors of the 
most numerous branch of the State Legislature ; but no person of 
foreign birth, not a citizen of the Confederate States, shall be 
allowed to vote for any officer, civil or political. State or Federal.^ 

3. Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned among 
the several States, which may be included within this Confederacy, 
according to their respective numbers, which shall be determined, 
by adding to the whole number of free persons, including those 
bound to service for a term of years, and excluding Indians not 
taxed, three-fifths of all slaves. The actual enumeration shall be 
made within three years after the first meeting of the Congress 

' [€}. Const. U. S., Preamble.] 

2 [Cf. Const. U. S., Art. I., Sec. 2.] 



426 CONSTITUTION OF CONFEDERATE STATES [March ii 

of the Confederate States, and within every subsequent term of 
ten years, in such manner as they shall by law direct. The num- 
ber of Representatives shall not exceed one for every fifty thou- 
sand, but each State shall have at least one Representative; and 
until such enumeration shall be made, the State of South Carolina 
shall be entitled to choose six; the State of Georgia ten; the 
State of Alabama nine; the State of Florida two; the State of 
Mississippi seven; the State of Louisiana six; and the State of 
Texas six.* 

5. The House of Representatives shall choose their Speaker 
and other officers; and shall have the sole power of impeachment; 
except that any judicial or other Federal officer, resident and act- 
ing solely within the limits of any State, may be impeached by a 
vote of two-thirds of both branches of the Legislature thereof.^ 

SECTION 3. 

I. The Senate of the Confederate States shall be composed of 
two Senators from each State, chosen for six years by the Legisla- 
ture thereof, at the regular session next immediately preceding the 
commencement of the term of service; and each Senator shall 
have one vote.^ 

SECTION 6. 

. . . No Senator or Representative shall, during the time for 
which he was elected, be appointed to any civil office under the 
authority of the Confederate States, which shall have been created, 
or the emoluments whereof shall have been increased during such 
time; and no person holding any office under the Confederate 
States shall be a member of either House during his continuance 
in office. But Congress may, by law, grant to the principal officer 
in each of the Executive Departments a seat upon the floor of 
either House, with the privilege of discussing any measures apper- 
taining to his department.* 

' [Cf. Const. U. S., Art. I., Sec. 2, Par. 3.] 

2 [Cf. Const. U. S., Art. I., Sec. 2, Par. 5.] 

3 [Cf. Const. U. S.. Art. T., Sec. 3, Par. i.] 
* [Cf. Const. U. S., Art. I., Sec. 6, Par. 2.] 



i86i] CONSTITUTION OF CONFEDERATE STATES 427 

SECTION 7. 

2. . . . The President may approve any appropriation and 
disapprove any other appropriation in the same bill. In such case 
he shall, in signing the bill, designate the appropriations disap- 
proved; and shall return a copy of such appropriations, with his 
objections, to the House in which the bill shall have originated; 
and the same proceedings shall then be had as in case of other 
bills disapproved by the President.^ 

SECTION 8. 

The Congress shall have power — 

I. To lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises, for 
revenue necessary to pay the debts, provide for the common de- 
fence, and carry on the government of the Confederate States; 
but no bounties shall be granted from the treasury ; nor shall any 
duties or taxes on importations from foreign nations be laid to pro- 
mote or foster any branch of industry; and all duties, imposts, 
and excises shall be uniform throughout the Confederate States : ^ 

3. To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the 
several States, and with the Indian tribes; but neither this, nor 
any other clause contained in the Constitution, shall ever be con- 
strued to delegate the power to Congress to appropriate money 
for any internal improvement intended to facilitate commerce; 
except for the purpose of furnishing lights, beacons, and buoys, 
and other aids to navigation upon the coasts, and the improve- 
ment of harbors and the removing of obstructions in river naviga- 
tion, in all which cases, such duties shall be laid on the navigation 
facilitated thereby, as may be necessary to pay the costs and ex- 
penses thereof : ^ 

4. To establish uniform laws of naturalization, and uniform laws 
on the subject of bankruptcies, throughout the Confederate States; 
but no law of Congress shall discharge any debt contracted before 
the passage of the same : * 



* * 



> [Cf. Const. U. S., Art. I., Sec. 7, Par. 2.] 

2 [Cf. Const. U. S., Art. I., Sec. 8, Par. i.] 

3 [C/. Const. U. S., Art. I., Sec. 8, Par. 3.] 
* [Cf. Const. U. S., Art. I., Sec. 8, Par. 4.] 



428 CONSTITUTION OF CONFEDERATE STATES [March ii 

7. To establish post-ofEces and post-routes; but the expenses 

of the Post-Office Department, after the first day of March in the 

year of our Lord eighteen hundred and sixty-three, shall be paid 

out of its own revenue : ^ 

******** 

SECTION 9. 

1. The importation of negroes of the African race, from any 
foreign country other than the slaveholding States or Territories 
of the United States of America, is hereby forbidden; and Con- 
gress is required to pass such laws as shall effectually prevent the 
same. 

2. Congress shall also have power to prohibit the introduction 
of slaves from any State not a member of, or Territory not belong- 
ing to, this Confederacy.^ 

4. No bill of attainder, ex post facto law, or law denying or im- 
pa[i]ring the right of property in negro slaves shall be passed.^ 

6. No tax or duty shall be laid on articles exported from any 
State, except by a vote of two-thirds of both Houses.'* 

******** 

9. Congress shall appropriate no money from the treasury ex- 
cept by a vote of two-thirds of both Houses, taken by yeas and 
nays, unless it be asked and estimated for by some one of the 
heads of departments, and submitted to Congress by the Presi- 
dent; or for the purpose of paying its own expenses and contin- 
gencies; or for the payment of claims against the Confederate 
States, the justice of which shall have been judicially declared by 
a tribunal for the investigation of claims against the government, 
which it is hereby made the duty of Congress to establish. 

10. All bills appropriating money shall specify in federal cur- 
rency the exact amount of each appropriation and the purposes 
for which it is made; and Congress shall grant no extra compen- 

» [C/. Const. U. S., Art. I., Sec. 8, Par. 7.] 

2 [Cj. Const. U. S., Art. I., Sec. 9, Par. i.] 

3 [Cf. Const. U. S., Art. I., Sec. 9, Par. 3.] 
« [Cf. Const. U. S., Art. I., Sec. 9, Par. 5.] 



i86i] CONSTITUTION OF CONFEDERATE STATES 429 

sation to any public contractor, officer, agent or servant, after such 
contract shall have been made or such service rendered.^ 

20. Every law, or resolution having the force of law, shall relate 
to but one subject, and that shall be expressed in the title. 

SECTION 10. 

3. No State shall, without the consent of Congress, lay any duty 
on tonnage, except on sea-going vessels, for the improvement of 
its rivers and harbors navigated by the said vessels; but such 
duties shall not conflict with any treaties of the Confederate 
, States with foreign nations; and any surplus revenue, thus de- 
rived, shall, after making such improvement, be paid into the 
common treasury. Nor shall any State keep troops or ships-of- 
war in time of peace, enter into any agreement or compact with 
another State, or with a foreign power, or engage in war, unless 
actually invaded, or in such imminent danger as will not admit of 
delay. But when any river divides or flows through two or more 
States, they may enter into compacts with each other to improve 
the navigation thereof.^ 

Article II. 

SECTION I. 

I. The executive power shall be vested in a President of the 
Confederate States of America. He and the Vice President shall 
hold their offices for the term of six years; but the President shall 
not be re-eligible. . . .^ 

7. No person except a natural born citizen of the Confederate 
States, or a citizen thereof at the time of the adoption of this 
Constitution, or a citizen thereof born in the United States prior 
to the 20th of December, i860, shall be eligible to the office of 
President; neither shall any person be eligible to that office who 

' [This and the preceding paragraphs are in addition to a provision identical 
with Const. U. S., Art. I., Sec. 9, Par. 7.] 

[C/. Const. U. S., Art. I., Sec. 10, Par. 3.] 
3 [C/. Const. U. S., Art. II., Sec. i, Par. u] 



430 CONSTITUTION OF CONFEDERATE STATES [March n 

shall not have attained the age of thirty-five years, and been four- 
teen years a resident within the limits of the Confederate States, 
as they may exist at the time of his election.' 

SECTION 2. 

3. The principal officer in each of the executive departments, 
and all persons connected with the diplomatic service, may be 
removed from office at the pleasure of the President. All other 
civil officers of the executive departments may be removed at any 
time by the President, or other appointing power, when their ser- 
vices are unnecessary, or for dishonesty, incapacity, inefficiency, 
misconduct, or neglect of duty; and when so removed, the removal 
shall be reported to the Senate, together with the reasons therefor. 

4. The President shall have power to fill up all vacancies that 
may happen during the recess of the Senate, by granting commis- 
sions which shall expire at the end of their next session; but no 
person rejected by the Senate shall be re-appointed to the same 
office during their ensuing recess.^ 

Article IV. 

SECTION 2. 

1. The citizens of each State shall be entitled to all the privi- 
leges and immunities of citizens in the several States; and shall 
have the right of transit and sojourn in any State of this Con- 
federacy, with their slaves and other property; and the right of 
property in said slaves shall not be thereby impaired.^ 

2. A person charged in any State with treason, felony, or other 
crime against the laws of such State, who shall flee from justice, 
and be found in another State, shall, on demand of the executive 
authority of the State from which he fled, be delivered up, to be 
removed to the State having jurisdiction of the crime.* 

1 [C/. Const. U. S., Art. II., Sec. i, Par. 5.] 

2 [C/. Const. U. S., Art. II., Sec. 2, Par. 3.] 

3 [C/. Const. U. S., Art. IV., Sec. 2, Par. i.] 
* [Cj. Const. U. S., Art. IV., Sec. 2, Par. 2.] 



i86i] CONSTITUTION OF CONFEDERATE STATES 431 

3. No slave or other person held to service or labor in any 
State or Territory of the Confederate States, under the laws 
thereof, escaping or lawfully carried into another, shall, in con- 
sequence of any law or regulation therein, be discharged from 
such service or labor; but shall be delivered up on claim of the 
party to whom such slave belongs, or to whom such service or 
labor may be due.^ 

SECTION 3. 

1. Other States may be admitted into this Confederacy by a 
vote of two-thirds of the whole House of Representatives and 
two-thirds of the Senate, the Senate voting by States; but no 
new State shall be formed or erected within the jurisdiction of 
any other State ; nor any State be formed by the junction of two 
or more States, or parts of States, without the consent of the legis- 
latures of the States concerned, as well as of the Congress.^ 

2. The Congress shall have power to dispose of and make all 
needful rules and regulations concerning the property of the Con- 
federate States, including the lands thereof.^ 

3. The Confederate States may acquire new territory; and Con- 
gress shall have power to legislate and provide governments for 
the inhabitants of all territory belonging to the Confederate States, 
lying without the limits of the several States ; and may permit them, 
at such times, and in such manner as it may by law provide, to 
form States to be admitted into the Confederacy. In all such 
territory, the institution of negro slavery, as it now exists in the 
Confederate States, shall be recognized and protected by Con- 
gress and by the territorial government: and the inhabitants of 
the several Confederate States and Territories shall have the right 
to take to such territory any slaves lawfully held by them in any 
of the States or Territories of the Confederate States. 

Article V. 

SECTION I. 

I. Upon the demand of any three States, legally assembled in 
their several conventions, the Congress shall summon a convention 

1 [C/. Const. U. S., Art. IV., Sec. 2, Par. 3.] 

2 [C/. Const. U. S., Art. IV., Sec. 3, Par. i.] 

3 [Q. Const. U. S., Art. IV., Sec. 3, Par. 2.] 



432 CONSTITUTION OF CONFEDERATE STATES [March il 

of all the States, to take into consideration such amendments to 
the Constitution as the said States shall concur in suggesting at 
the time when the said demand is made; and should any of the 
proposed amendments to the Constitution be agreed on by the 
said convention — voting by States — and the same be ratified by 
the legislatures of two-thirds of the several States, or by conven- 
tions in two-thirds thereof — as the one or the other mode of 
ratification may be proposed by the general convention — they 
shall thenceforward form a part of this Constitution. But no State 
shall, without its consent, be deprived of its equal representation 
in the Senate.^ 

Article VI. 

I. The Government established by this Constitution is the 
successor of the Provisional Government of the Confederate 
States of America, and all the laws passed by the latter shall con- 
tinue in force until the same shall be repealed or modified: and 
all the officers appointed by the same shall remain in office until 
their successors are appointed and qualified, or the offices abol- 
ished. 

5. The enumeration, in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall 
not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the 
people of the Several States.^ 

6. The powers not delegated to the Confederate States by the 
Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to 
the States, respectively, or to the people thereof.^ 

Article VII. 

1. The ratification of the conventions of five States shall be 
sufficient for the establishment of this Constitution between the 
States so ratifying the same.* 

2. When five States shall have ratified this Constitution, in the 
manner before specified, the Congress under the Provisional Con- 
stitution shall prescribe the time for holding the election of Presi- 

1 [Cf. Const. U. S., Art. V.] 

2 [Cf. Const. U. S., Amend., Art. IX.] 

3 [C/. Const. U. S., Amend., Art. X.J 
* [Cf. Const. U. S., Art. VII.] 



i86i] CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS 433 

dent and Vice President; and for the meeting of the Electoral 
College; and for counting the votes, and inaugurating the Presi- 
dent. They shall, also, prescribe the time for holding the first 
election of members of Congress under this Constitution, and 
the time for assembling the same. Until the assembling of such 
Congress, the Congress under the Provisional Constitution shall 
continue to exercise the legislative powers granted them; not 
extending beyond the time limited by the Constitution of the 
Provisional Government. 



No. 1 1 7. Call for 75,000 Volunteers 

April 15, 1861 

The proclamation of April 15 was issued, under authority of the act of 
February 28, 1795, the day after the fall of Fort Sumter. The call on the 
governors of the States was made through the War Department. May 3 a 
further call for 42,034 volunteers to serve for three years, together with an 
order for the increase of the regular army and the enlistment of seamen, was 
issued, the action of the President being legalized by an act of August 6. An 
act of February 24, 1864, authorized the President to call whenever necessary 
for such number of volunteers as might be required. 

References. — Text in U. S. Statutes at Large, XII, 1258. Correspond- 
ence with the governors is in the War Records, Series III., Vol. I., pp. 68 seq. 
For comments of the press see Moore, Rebellion Record, I., 64-69 of docu- 
ments. 

Whereas the laws of the United States have been, for some time 
past, and now are opposed, and the execution thereof obstructed, 
in the States of South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Missis- 
sippi, Louisiana, and Texas, by combinations too powerful to be 
suppressed by the ordinary course of judicial proceedings, or by 
the powers vested in the marshals by law : 

Now, therefore, I, ABRAHAM LINCOLN, President of the 
United States, in virtue of the power in me vested by the Consti- 
tution and the laws, have thought fit to call forth, and hereby do 
call forth, the militia of the several States of the Union, to the 
aggregate number of seventy-five thousand, in order to suppress 
said combinations, and to cause the laws to be duly executed. 

The details for this object will be immediately communicated to 
the State authorities through the War Department. 



434 BLOCKADE OF SOUTHERN PORTS [April 19 

I appeal to all loyal citizens to favor, facilitate, and aid this effort 
to maintain the honor, the integrity, and the existence of our 
National Union, and the perpetuity of popular government; and 
to redress wrongs already long enough endured. 

I deem it proper to say that the first service assigned to the 
forces hereby called forth will probably be to repossess the forts, 
places, and property which have been seized from the Union ; and 
in every event, the utmost care will be observed, consistently with 
the objects aforesaid, to avoid any devastation, any destruction 
of, or interference with, property, or any disturbance of peaceful 
citizens in any part of the country. 

And I hereby command the persons composing the combina- 
tions aforesaid to disperse, and retire peaceably to their respective 
abodes within twenty days from this date. 

Deeming that the present condition of public affairs presents an 
extraordinary occasion, I do hereby, in virtue of the power in me 
vested by the Constitution, convene both Houses of Congress. 
Senators and Representatives are therefore summoned to assemble 
at their respective chambers, at twelve o'clock, noon, on Thursday, 
the fourth day of July next, then and there to consider and deter- 
mine such measures as, in their wisdom, the public safety and 

interest may seem to demand. 

******** 



No. 118. Proclamation declaring a Block- 
ade of Southern Ports 

April ig, 1861 

In response to the proclamation of April 15, calling for 75,000 volunteers, 
Jefferson Davis, as president of the Confederate States, issued on April 17 a 
proclamation inviting applications for letters of marque and reprisal. The 
proclamation declaring a blockade of Southern ports was issued in rejoinder. 
By a further proclamation of April 27, the blockade was extended to the ports 
of Virignia and North Carolina. 

References. — Text in U.S. Statutes at Large, XII., 1 258, 1 259. Davis's 
proclamation is in Moore, Rebellion Record, I., 71 of documents. The proc- 
lamation was upheld in the Prize Cases, 2 Black, 635. 

Whereas an insurrection against the Government of the United 



i86i] BLOCKADE OF SOUTHERN PORTS 435 

States has broken out in the States of South Carolina, Georgia, 
Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas, and the laws 
of the United States for the collection of the revenue cannot be 
effectually executed therein conformably to that provision of the 
Constitution which requires duties to be uniform throughout the 
United States: 

And whereas a combination of persons, engaged in such insur- 
rection, have threatened to grant pretended letters of marque to 
authorize the bearers thereof to commit assaults on the lives, ves- 
sels, and property of good citizens of the country lawfully engaged 
in commerce on the high seas, and in waters of the United States: 

And whereas an Executive Proclamation has been already issued, 
requiring the persons engaged in these disorderly proceedings to 
desist therefrom, calling out a militia force for the purpose of 
repressing the same, and convening Congress in extraordinary 
session to deliberate and determine thereon: 

Now, therefore, I, ABRAHAM LINCOLN, President of the 
United States, with a view to the same purposes before mentioned, 
and to the protection of the public peace, and the lives and prop- 
erty of quiet and orderly citizens pursuing their lawful occupations, 
until Congress shall have assembled and deliberated on the said 
unlawful proceedings, or until the same shall have ceased, have 
further deemed it advisable to set on foot a blockade of the ports 
within the States aforesaid, in pursuance of the laws of the United 
States and of the law of nations in such case provided. For this 
purpose a competent force will be posted so as to prevent entrance 
and exit of vessels from the ports aforesaid. If, therefore, with a 
view to violate such blockade, a vessel shall approach, or shall 
attempt to leave either of the said ports, she will be duly warned 
by the commander of one of the blockading vessels, who will in- 
dorse on her register the fact and date of such warning, and if the 
same vessel shall again attempt to enter or leave the blockaded 
port, she will be captured and sent to the nearest convenient port, 
for such proceedings against her and her cargo as prize, as may be 
deemed advisable. 

And I hereby proclaim and declare that if any person, under the 
pretended authority of the said States, or under any other pretence, 
shall molest a vessel of the United States, or the persons or cargo 
on board of her, such person will be held amenable to the laws of 
the United States for the prevention and punishment of piracy. 



436 ACT FOR A NATIONAL LOAN [July 17 



No. 119. Act for a National Loan 

July 17, i86r 

In his message of July 4, 1861, Lincoln asked Congress for "at least" 
400,000 men and $400,000,000 as "the legal means for making this contest a 
short and a decisive one." The Secretary of the Treasury, Chase, in his re- 
port of the same date, recommended loans to the aggregate amount of 
$250,000,000, and submitted the draft of a bill for that purpose. A bill to 
authorize a national loan was introduced in the House by Thaddeus Stevens 
of Pennsylvania, from the Committee of Ways and Means, July 9, and on the 
following day passed by a vote of 153 to 5. The Senate made a number of 
amendments, all of which were concurred in by the House, and on the 17th 
the act was approved. The act was amended by act of August 5. 

References. — Text in U.S. Statutes at Large, XII., 259-261. For the 
proceedings see the House and Senate Journals and the Cong. Globe, 37th 
Cong., ist Sess. Chase's report of July 4 is in the Globe, Appendix. On the 
condition of the treasury see House Misc. Doc. 20, 36th Cong., 2d Sess. 
The supplementary act of August 5 is in MacDonald, Select Statutes, No. 10. 

An Act to authorize a National Loan and for other Purposes. 

Be it enacted . . . , That the Secretary of the Treasury be, 
and he is hereby, authorized to borrow on the credit of the 
United States, within twelve months from the passage of this 
act, a sum not exceeding two hundred and fifty miUions of dol- 
lars, or so much thereof as he may deem necessary for the public 
service, for which he is authorized to issue coupon bonds, or 
registered bonds, or treasury notes, in such proportions of each 
as he may deem advisable; the bonds to bear interest not ex- 
ceeding seven per centum per annum, payable semi-annually, 
irredeemable for twenty years, and after that period redeemable 
at the pleasure of the United States; and the treasury notes to 
be of any denomination fixed by the Secretary of the Treasury, 
not less than fifty dollars, and to be payable three years after 
date, with interest at the rate of seven and three tenths per 
centum per annum, payable semi-annually. And the Secretary 
of the Treasury may also issue in exchange for coin, and as part 
of the above loan, or may pay for salaries or other dues from 
the United States, treasury notes of a less denomination than 
fifty dollars, not bearing interest, but payable on demand by the 



i86i] ACT FOR A NATIONAL LOAN 437 

Assistant Treasurers of the United States at Philadelphia, New 
York, or Boston, or treasury notes bearing interest at the rate 
of three and sixty-five hundredths per centum, payable in one 
year from date, and exchangeable at any time for treasury notes 
for fifty dollars, and upwards, issuable under the authority of 
this act, and bearing interest as specified above: Provided, That 
no exchange of such notes in any less amount than one hundred 
dollars shall be made at any one time: And provided further , 
That no treasury notes shall be issued of a less denomination 
than ten dollars, and that the whole amount of treasury notes, not 
bearing interest, issued under the authority of this act, shall not 
exceed fifty millions of dollars. 

******** 

Sec. 6. And be it further enacted, That whenever any treasury 
notes of a denomination less than fifty dollars, authorized to be 
issued by this act, shall have been redeemed, the Secretary of 
the Treasury may re-issue the same, or may cancel them and 
issue new notes to an equal amount: Provided, That the aggre- 
gate amount of bonds and treasury notes issued under the fore- 
going provisions of this act shall never exceed the full amount 
authorized by the first section of this act; and the power to 
issue, or re-issue such notes shall cease and determine after the 
thirty-first of December, eighteen hundred and sixty-two. 

Sec. 7. And he it further enacted, That the Secretary of the 
Treasury is hereby authorized, whenever he shall deem it ex- 
pedient, to issue in exchange for coin, or in payment for public 
dues, treasury notes of any of the denominations hereinbefore 
specified, bearing interest not exceeding six per centum per 
annum, and payable at any time not exceeding twelve months 
from date, provided that the amount of notes so issued, or paid, 
shall at no time exceed twenty millions of dollars. 

Sec. 9. And he it further enacted. That the faith of the United 
States is hereby solemnly pledged for the payment of the inter- 
est and redemption of the principal of the loan authorized by 
this act. 



438 EMPLOYMENT OF VOLUNTEERS [July 22 

No. 120. Act authorizing the Employment 
of Volunteers 

July 22, 1861 

A BILL to authorize the employment of volunteers, in accordance with the 
recommendation of President Lincoln in his message of July 4, 1861, was in- 
troduced in the Senate, July 6, by Henry Wilson of Massachusetts, and passed 
that house on the loth by a vote of 34 to 4. On the 12th the action was re- 
considered, and the bill with further amendments was again passed by a vote 
of 35 to 4. The passage of a substitute bill by the House caused a reference 
of the matter to a co iference committee, whose report was agreed to by the 
two houses on the iSth. The discussion in each house had to do mainly with 
the details of organizitio:i of the volunteers provided for by the bill. 

References. — • Text in U.S. Statutes at Large, XH., 268-271. For the 
debates see the House and Senate Journals and Cong. Globe, 37th Cong., ist 
Sess. On the efficiency of volunteers and the condition of the militia see 
House Exec. Doc. 54 and House Report 58, 36th Cong., 2d Sess., and House 
Report I, 37th Cong., ist Sess. A summary view of early military legislation, 
Union and Confederate, is given in McPherson, History of the Rebellion, 
115-121. 

An Act to authorize the Employment of Volunteers to aid in enforc- 
ing the Laws and protecting Public Property. 

Whereas, certain of the forts, arsenals, custom-houses, navy 
yards, and other property of the United States have been 
seized, and other violations of law have been committed and 
are threatened by organized bodies of men in several of the 
States, and a conspiracy has been entered into to overthrow 
the Government of the United States: Therefore, 
Be it enacted . . . , That the President be, and he is hereby, 
authorized to accept the services of volunteers, either as cavalry, 
infantry, or artillery, in such numbers, not e.xceeding five hun- 
dred thousand, as he may deem necessary, for the purpose of 
repelling invasion, suppressing insurrection, enforcing the laws, 
and preserving and protecting the public property: Provided, 
That the services of the volunteers shall be for such time as the 
President may direct, not e.xceeding three years nor less than 
six months,^ and they shall be disbanded at the end of the war. . . . 

' A supplementary act of July 25, 1861, provided that volunteers should "be 
mustered in for 'during the war.'" — Ed. 



i86i] RESOLUTION ON THE WAR 439 

Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That the said volunteers 
shall be subject to the rules and regulations governing the army 
of the United States, and that they shall be formed, by the Presi- 
dent, into regiments of infantry, with the exception of such 
numbers for cavalry and artillery, as he may direct, not to 
exceed the proportion of one company of each of those arms to 
every regiment of infantry, and to be organized as in the regu- 
lar service. . . . 

[The remainder of the act relates to the organization of the 
volunteers, the appointment of officers, etc.] 



No. 121. Resolution on the Nature and 
Object of the War 

July 22, 1861 

A RESOLUTION declaratory of the nature and object of the war was offered 
in the House, July 22, 1861, by John J. Crittenden of Kentucky. In the vote 
the resolution was divided, the first part, through the word "capital," being 
adopted by a vote of 122 to 2, and the remainder by a vote of 117 to 2. A 
resolution in practically identical terms was offered in the Senate, July 24, by 
Andrew Johnson of Tennessee, and on the 25th, after a long discussion, was 
adopted, the vote being 30 to 5. The resolutions, which "gave expression 
to the common sentiment of the country," were the only formal declarations 
out of a great number submitted which passed the houses. 

References. — Text in House Journal, 37th Cong., ist Sess., 123. For 
the debates see the Cong. Globe. A list of the principal declaratory resolu- 
tions submitted, with the action on each, is given in McPherson, Rebellion, 
285—290. 

Resolved . . . , That the present deplorable civil war has been 
forced upon the country by the disunionists of the southern 
States, now in arms against the constitutional government, and 
in arms around the capital ; that in this national emergency, 
Congress, banishing all feelings of mere passion or resentment, 
will recollect only its duty to the whole country ; that this war 
is not waged on their part in any spirit of oppression, or for any 
purpose of conquest or subjugation, or purpose of overthrowing 
or interfering with the rights or established institutions of those 
States, but to defend and maintain the supremacy of the Consti- 



440 ACT FOR CALLING OUT THE MILITIA [July 29 

tution, and to preserve the Union with all the dignity, equality, 
and rights of the several States unimpaired; and that as soon 
as these objects are accomplished the war ought to cease. 



No. 122. Act for Calling out the Militia 

July 29, 1861 

A BILL "to provide for the suppression of rebellion," etc., was introduced 
in the House, July 10, by John A. Bingham of Ohio, and on the i6th passed 
without a division. The bill passed the Senate on the 26th, and on the 29th 
the act was approved. 

References. — Text in U.S. Statutes at Large, XII., 281, 282. For the 
proceedings see the House and Senate Journals and the Cong. Globe. The 
changes made by the act are set forth in the House proceedings of July 16; 
compare President Buchanan's remarks on the employment of the militia 
under the acts of 1795 and 1807, in his annual message of December 3, i860. 

An Act to provide for the Suppression of Rebellion against and 
Resistance to the Laws of the United States, and to amend the 
Act entitled'' An Act to provide for calling forth the Militia to 
execute the Laws of the Union," d^'c, passed . . . [February 28, 
1795]- 

Be it enacted . . . , That whenever, by reason of unlawful 
obstructions, combinations, or assemblages of persons, or rebel- 
lion against the authority of the Government of the United 
States, it shall become impracticable, in the judgment of the 
President of the United States, to enforce, by the ordinary 
course of judicial proceedings, the laws of the United States 
within any State or Territory of the United States, it shall be 
lawful for the President of the United States to call forth the 
militia of any or all the States of the Union, and to employ such 
parts of the land and naval forces of the United States as he may 
deem necessary to enforce the faithful execution of the laws of 
the United States, or to suppress such rebellion in whatever 
State or Territory thereof the laws of the United States may be 
forcibly opposed, or the execution thereof forcibly obstructed. 

Sec. 2. And be it further enacted. That whenever, in the 
judgment of the President, it may be necessary to use the mili- 



i86i] PUNISHMENT OF CONSPIRACIES 441 

tary force hereby directed to be employed and called forth by 
him, the President shall forthwith, by proclamation, command 
such insurgents to disperse and retire peaceably to their respec- 
tive abodes, within a limited time. 

Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That the militia so called 
into the service of the United States shall be subject to the same 
rules and articles of war as the troops of the United States, and 
be continued in the service of the United States until discharged 
by proclamation of the President: Provided, That such continu- 
ance in service shall not extend beyond sixty days after the 
commencement of the next regular session of Congress, unless 
Congress shall expressly provide by law therefor: . . . 

Sec. 7. And be it further enacted, That the marshals of the 
several districts of the United States, and their deputies, shall 
have the same powers in executing the laws of the United States 
as sheriffs and their deputies in the several States, have by law, 
in executing the laws of the respective States. 



No. 123. Act to Define and Punish certain 
Conspiracies 

July 31, 1861 

A BILL "to define and punish certain conspiracies" was presented in the 
House, July 15, by John Hickman of Pennsylvania, and passed by a vote of 
1 23 to 7. In the Senate the printing of a minority report submitted by Bayard 
of Delaware and Powell of Kentucky was refused by a vote of 10 to 29, 
and on the 26th the bill in amended form passed the Senate. Nine Senators 
entered a protest against the bill. The amendment of the Senate was con- 
curred in by the House on the 30th, and the next day the act was approved. 

References. — • Text in U.S. Statutes at Large, XII., 284. The important 
proceedings are those of the Senate for July 24 and 26 {Cong. Globe, 37th 
Cong., ist Sess.). 

An Act to define and punish certain Conspiracies. 

Be it enacted . . . , That if two or more persons within any 
State or Territory of the United States shall conspire together 



442 CONFISCATION ACT [August 6 

to overthrow, or to put down, or to destroy by force, the Govern- 
ment of the United States, or to levy war against the United 
States, or to oppose by force the authority of the Government 
of the United States; or by force to prevent, hinder, or delay 
the execution of any law of the United States; or by force to 
seize, take, or possess any property of the United States against 
the will or contrary to the authority of the United States; or by 
force, or intimidation, or threat to prevent any person from 
accepting or holding any office, or trust, or place of confidence, 
under the United States; each and every person so offending 
shall be guilty of a high crime, and upon conviction thereof in 
any district or circuit court of the United States, having juris- 
diction thereof, or district or supreme court of any Territory of 
the United States having jurisdiction thereof, shall be punished 
by a fine not less than five hundred dollars and not more than 
five thousand dollars; or by imprisonment, with or without hard 
labor, as the court shall determine, for a period not less than 
six months nor greater than six years, or by both such fine and 
imprisonment. 



No. 124. Confiscation Act 

August 6, 1861 

A BILL "to confiscate property used for insurrectionary purposes" was 
introduced in the Senate, July 15, by Lyman Trumbull of Illinois. When the 
bill was reported by the Committee on the Judiciary, on the 25th, Trumbull 
proposed an additional section, embodying in a shorter form the provisions of 
section four of the act. The amended bill passed the Senate July 22. The 
proposed forfeiture of the claims of owners to such of their slaves as had been 
compelled to work in aid of the rebellion aroused strong opposition in the 
House, but an amendment in the form of a substitute for the final section of 
the Senate bill, being section four of the act as passed, was agreed to, August 3, 
by a vote of 60 to 48. By a vote of 24 to 11 the Senate concurred in the 
amendment of the House, and on the 6th the act was approved. The Confis- 
cation Act was the first legislative step towards emancipation. 

References. — Text in U.S. Statutes at Large, XII., 319. For the pro- 
ceedings see the House and Senate Journals, 37th Cong., ist Sess., and the 
Cong. Globe. For the retaliatory act of the Confederate Congress, August 30, 
see Confederate Statutes at Large, 201. On Butler's course see Butler's Book, 
256 scq., and War Records, Series I., Vol. I., 53. 



i86i] CONFISCATION ACT 443 

An Act to confiscate Property used for Insurrectionary Purposes. 

Be it enacted . . . , That if, during the present or any future 
insurrection against the Government of the United States, after 
the President of the United States shall have declared, by proc- 
lamation, that the laws of the United States are opposed, and the 
execution thereof obstructed, by combinations too powerful to be 
suppressed by the ordinary course of judicial pioceedings, or by 
the power vested in the marshals by law, any person or persons, 
his, her, or their agent, attorney, or employe, shall purchase or 
acquire, sell or give, any property of whatsoever kind or descrip- 
tion, with intent to use or employ the same, or suffer the same 
to be used or employed, in aiding, abetting, or promoting such 
insurrection or resistance to the laws, or any person or persons 
engaged therein; or if any person or persons, being the owner 
or owners of any such property, shall knowingly use or employ, 
or consent to the use or employment of the same as aforesaid, all 
such property is hereby declared to be lawful subject of prize 
and capture wherever found; and it shall be the duty of the 
President of the United States to cause the same to be seized, 
confiscated, and condemned. 

Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That such prizes and cap- 
ture shall be condemned in the district or circuit court of the 
United States having jurisdiction of the amount, or in admiralty 
in any district in which the same may be seized, or into which 
they may be taken and proceedings first instituted. 

Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That the Attorney-General, 
or any district attorney of the United States in which said 
property may at the time be, may institute the proceedings of 
condemnation, and in such case they shall be wholly for the 
benefit of the United States ; or any person may file an infor- 
mation with such attorney, in which case the proceedings shall 
be for the use of such informer and the United States in equal 
parts. 

Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That whenever hereafter, 
during the present insurrection against the Government of the 
United States, any person claimed to be held to labor or service 
under the law of any State, shall be required or permitted by the 
person to whom such labor or service is claimed to be due, or by 



444 SEIZURE OF RAILROAD AND TELEGRAPH LINES [Jan. 31 

the lawful agent of such person, to take up arms against the 
United States, or shall be required or permitted by the person 
to whom such labor or service is claimed to be due, or his law- 
ful agent, to work or to be employed in or upon any fort, navy 
yard, dock, armory, ship, entrenchment, or in any military or 
naval service whatsoever, against the Government and lawful 
authority of the United States, then, and in every such case, the 
person to whom such labor or service is claimed to be due shall 
forfeit his claim to such labor, any law of the State or of the 
United States to the contrary notwithstanding. And whenever 
thereafter the person claiming such labor or service shall seek to 
enforce his claim, it shall be a full and sufficient answer to such 
claim that the person whose service or labor is claimed had been 
employed in hostile service against the Government of the 
United States, contrary to the provisions of this act. 



No. 125. Act authorizing the Seizure of 
Railroad and Telegraph Lines 

January 31, 1862 

In his report of July i, 1861, the Secretary of War, Cameron, stated that 
the resistance to the passage of troops through Baltimore, the destruction of 
bridges on certain railroads, and the refusal of the Baltimore and Ohio Rail- 
road Company to transport government forces and supplies, had made it 
necessary "to take possession of so much of the railway lines as was required 
to form a connection with the States from which troops and supplies were 
expected;" and an appropriation for the construction and operation, when 
necessary, of railroad and telegraph lines was recommended. Further specific 
recommendations for construction were made in the annual report of Decem- 
ber I. A bill in accordance with the earlier recommendation was reported to 
the Senate, January 22, by Benjamin F. Wade of Ohio, from the Joint Com- 
mittee on the Conduct of the War, and passed with amendments on the 28th 
by a vote of 23 to 12. The next day, by a vote of 113 to 28, the bill passed 
the House, and on the 31st the act was approved. An order taking military 
possession of all railroads was issued May 25. 

References. — Text in U.S. Statutes at Large, XII., 334, 335. For the 
proceedings see the House and Senate Journals, 37th Cong., 2d Sess., and the 
Cong. Globe. The debate in the Senate is of most importance. Cameron's 
report of 1861 is in the Globe, Appendix. 



i862] SEIZURE OF RAILROAD AND TELEGRAPH LINES 445 

An Act to authorize the President of the United States in certain 
Cases to take Possession of Railroad and Telegraph Lines, and 
for other Purposes. 

Be it enacted . . . , That the President of the United States, 
when in his judgment the pub He safety may require it, be, and 
he is hereby authorized to take possession of any or all the tele- 
graph lines in the United States, their offices and appurtenances; 
to take possession of any or all the railroad lines in the United 
States, their rolling-stock, their offices, shops, buildings, and all 
their appendages and appurtenances; to prescribe rules and 
regulations for the holding, using, and maintaining of the afore- 
said telegraph and railroad lines, and to extend, repair, and com- 
plete the same,^ in the manner most conducive to the safety and 
interest of the Government; to place under military control all 
the officers, agents, and employes belonging to the telegraph and 
railroad lines thus taken possession of by the President, so that 
they shall be considered as a post road and a part of the military 
establishment of the United States, subject to all the restrictions 
imposed by the rules and articles of war. 

Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That any attempt by any 
party or parties whomsoever, in any State or District in which 
the laws of the United States are opposed, or the execution 
thereof obstructed by insurgents and rebels against the United 
States, too powerful to be suppressed by the ordinary course of 
judicial proceedings, to resist or interfere with the unrestrained 
use by Government of the property described in the preceding 
section, or any attempt to injure or destroy the property afore- 
said, shall be punished as a military offence, by death, or such 
other penalty as a court-martial may impose. 

Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That the transportation of 
troops, munitions of v^ar, equipments, military property and 
stores, throughout the United States, shall be under the immedi- 
ate control and supervision of the Secretary of War and such 
agents as he may appoint; and all rules, regulations, articles, 
usages, and laws in conflict with this provision are hereby annulled. 

■ By a joint resolution of July 14, 1862, so much of the act as authorized the 
construction, extension, or completion of any railroad was repealed. — Ed. 



446 ISSUE OF LEGAL TENDER NOTES [Feb. 25 

No. 126. Act authorizing the Issue of Legal 
Tender Notes 

February 25, 1862 

In his annual report of December 9, 1861, Secretary Chase stated that 
loans to the amount of $200,000,000 would be required to meet the estimated 
expenditures for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1862. He proposed the 
establishment of a national banking system, but did not recommend the fur- 
ther issue of treasury notes. December 28 the New York banks suspended 
specie payment. By a joint resolution of January 21, 1862, Congress an- 
nounced its intention of raising $1 50,000,000 by taxes and duties. January 22 
Elbridge G. Spaulding of New York reported to the House, from the Com- 
mittee of Ways and Means, a bill to authorize the issue of legal tender notes, 
etc., being a substitute for a bill for the issue of $100,000,000 demand notes, 
but without the legal tender provision, reported by Spaulding January 7. 
The bill encountered strong opposition both in and out of Congress, but on 
February 6 it passed the House, with various amendments, by a vote of 93 to 
59. On the 13th the Senate, by a vote of 17 to 22, rejected an amendment 
striking out the legal tender clause, and passed the bill with amendments by 
a vote of 30 to 7. The House refusing to concur in the amendments of 
the Senate, the bill went to a conference committee, whose report was accepted 
on the 24th by the House by a vote of 98 to 22, and by the Senate without a 
division. The next day, however, on the motion of Fessenden, the action of 
the Senate was reconsidered and a second conference asked for. The report 
of this committee was accepted by the houses, and on the 25th the act was 
approved. A further issue of legal tender notes, to the amount of $1 50,000,000, 
was authorized by an act of July 11, a third, to the amount of $100,000,000, 
by a joint resolution of January 17, 1863, and a fourth, of $150,000,000, 
March 3, 1863. 

References. — Text in U.S. Statutes at Large, XII., 345-348. For the 
proceedings see the House and Senate Journals, 37th Cong., 2d Sess., and the 
Cong. Globe, where are also the texts of the numerous amendments offered. 
Morrill's substitute, embodying the recommendations of business men and 
bankers in consultation with Chase, and without the legal tender clause, is 
summarized in the Globe for February 4. On the constitutionality of the legal 
tender provision see Hepburn v. Grisivold, 8 Wallace, 603; Legal Tender 
Cases, 12 ibid., 457; Juillard v. Greenman, no U.S. Reports, 421. 

An Act to authorize the Issue of United States Notes, and for the 
Redemption or Funding thereof, and for Funding the Floating 
Debt of the United States. 

Be it enacted . . . , That the Secretary of the Treasury is 
hereby authorized to issue, on the credit of the United States, 



i862] ISSUE OF LEGAL TENDER NOTES 447 

one hundred and fifty millions of dollars of United States notes, 
not bearing interest, payable to bearer, at the Treasury of the 
United States, and of such denominations as he may deem ex- 
pedient, not less than five dollars each : Provided, however, That 
fifty millions of said notes shall be in lieu of the demand Treas- 
ury notes authorized to be issued by the act of . . . [July 17, 
1861] . . . ; which said demand notes shall be taken up as rapidly 
as practicable, and the notes herein provided for substituted for 
them: And provided further. That the amount of the two kinds 
af notes together shall at no time exceed the sum of one hundred 
and fifty millions of dollars, and such notes herein authorized shall 
be receivable in payment of all taxes, internal duties, excises, debts, 
and demands of every kind due to the United States, except duties 
on imports, and of all claims and demands against the United 
States of every kind whatsoever, except for interest upon bonds 
and notes, which shall be paid in coin, and shall also be lawful 
money and a legal tender in payment of all debts, public and 
private, within the United States, except duties on imports and 
interest as aforesaid. . . . And such United States notes shall be 
received the same as coin, at their par value, in payment for any 
loans that may be hereafter sold or negotiated by the Secretary of 
the Treasury, and may be re-issued from time to time as the 
exigencies of the public interests shall require. 

Sec. 2. And be it further enacted. That to enable the Secre- 
tary of the Treasury to fund the Treasury notes and floating 
debt of the United States, he is hereby authorized to issue, on 
the credit of the United States, coupon bonds, or registered 
bonds, to an amount not exceeding five hundred millions of 
dollars, redeemable at the pleasure of the United States after 
five years, and payable twenty years from date, and bearing 
interest at the rate of six per centum per annum, payable semi- 
annually . . . ; and all stocks, bonds, and other securities of the 
United States held by individuals, corporations, or associations, 
within the United States, shall be exempt from taxation by or 
under State authority. 

Sec. 5. And be it further enacted. That all duties on imported 
goods shall be paid in coin, or in notes payable on demand 
heretofore authorized to be issued and by law receivable in pay- 



448 ADDITIONAL ARTICLE OF WAR [March 13 

ment of public dues, and the coin so paid shall be set apart as 
a special fund, and shall be applied as follows : 

First. To the payment in coin of the interest on the bonds 
and notes of the United States. 

Second. To the purchase or payment of one per centum of 
the entire debt of the United States, to be made within each 
fiscal year after . . . [July i, 1862 j . . . , which is to be set 
apart as a sinking fund, and the interest of which shall in like 
manner be applied to the purchase or payment of the public debt 
as the Secretary of the Treasury shall from time to time direct. 

Third. The residue thereof to be paid into the Treasury of 
the United States. 



No. 127. Act for an Additional Article of 

War 



March 13, 1862 

July 9, 1861, the House of Representatives, by a vote of 92 to 55, resolved 
that "it is no part of the duty of the soldiers of the United States to capture 
and return fugitive slaves." December 23 the House Committee on Military 
Affairs was instructed to report a bill to make an additional article of war for- 
bidding the use of the United States troops to return fugitives from service or 
labor. A bill to that effect was reported February 25, and passed, after much 
obstructive opposition, by a vote of 95 to 51. March 10, in the Senate, an 
amendment "that this article shall not apply in the States of Delaware, Mary- 
land, Missouri, and Kentucky, nor elsewhere where the federal authority is 
recognized or can be enforced," was rejected, and the bill, by a vote of 29 to 9, 
passed. 

References. — Text in U.S. Statutes at Large, XII., 354. For the debates 
see the House and Senate Journals, 37th Cong., 2d Sess., and the Cong. Globe. 
Various military orders and reports relating to the subject are collected in 
McPherson, Rebellion, 244 seq. 

An Act to make an additional Article of War. 

Be it enacted . . . , That hereafter the following shall be pro- 
mulgated as an additional article of war for the government of 
the army of the United States, and shall be obeyed and observed 
as such: 



i862] COMPENSATED EMANCIPATION 449 

Article — . All officers or persons in the military or naval ser- 
vice of the United States are prohibited from employing any of 
the forces under their respective commands for the purpose of 
returning fugitives from service or labor, v^^ho may have escaped 
from any persons to whom such service or labor is claimed to be 
due, and any officer who shall be found guilty by a court-martial 
of \dolating this article shall be dismissed from the service. 



No. 128. Joint Resolution on Compensated 
Emancipation 

April 10, 1862 

The first proposition for compensated emancipation seems to have been 
brought forward by James B. McKean of New York, who introduced in the 
House, February 11, 1861, a resolution for the appointment of a select com- 
mittee to inquire into the practicability of emancipating the slaves in the bor- 
der States. No action was taken on the resolution. In a special message to 
Congress, March 6, 1S62, Lincoln recommended the adoption of a resolution 
in the identical terms of the resolution following. The resolution was intro- 
duced in the House, March 10, by Roscoe Conkling of New York, under sus- 
pension of the rules, and the next day passed by a vote of 97 to 36. The 
Senate passed the resolution April 2, the vote being 32 to 10. April 7, by a 
vote of 67 to 52, the House adopted a resolution, submitted by Albert S. 
White of Indiana, for the appointment of a select committee of nine on com- 
pensated emancipation in the border States. On March 10, and again on 
July 12, Lincoln had interviews with representatives of the border States, but 
the conferences were fruitless. In his proclamation of May 19, setting aside 
General Hunter's proclamation declaring free the slaves in Georgia, Florida, 
and South Carolina, Lincoln made an earnest plea for the acceptance of the 
offer proposed by the resolution; while in his annual message of December i, 
1862, he discussed the subject at length, and proposed an amendment to the 
Constitution to carry the plan into effect. Bills providing for compensated 
emancipation in Missouri and Maryland were introduced in the House in 
January, 1863, but failed to pass. 

References. — Text in U.S. Statutes at Large, XII., 617. For the pro- 
ceedings see the House and Senate Journals, 37th Cong., ist Sess., and the 
Cong. Globe. Papers relating to Lincoln's interviews with representatives of 
the border States are in McPherson, Rebellion, 213-220. See also Senate Re- 
port 12 and House Report 148, 37th Cong., 2d Sess.; House Report 33, 39th 
Cong., ist Sess. 

2G 



45© SLAVERY IN DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA [April i6 



Joint Resolution declaring that the United States ought to cooperate 

with, affording pecuniary Aid to any State which may adopt the 
gradual Abolishment of Slavery. 

Be it resolved . . . , That the United States ought to cooper- 
ate with any State which may adopt gradual abolishment of 
slavery, giving to such State pecuniary aid, to be used by such 
State in its discretion, to compensate for the inconveniences, 
public and private, produced by such change of system. 



No. 129. Act abolishing Slavery in the 
District of Columbia 



April 16, 1862 

A BILL "for the release of certain persons held to service or labor in the 
District of Columbia" was introduced in the Senate, December 16, 1861, by 
Henry Wilson of Massachusetts. The debate on the bill began March 1 2 and 
developed much opposition, but April 3, by a vote of 29 to 14, the bill passed. 
In the House a motion to reject the bill was lost, 45 to 93, and on the nth the 
bill passed, the final vote being 85 to 40. In his message of approval Lincoln 
suggested that further time be allowed for the presentation of claims, and that 
provision be made for " minors, femmes covert, insane, or absent persons"; 
and a supplementary act was passed July 12 embodying these changes. The 
civil appropriation act of July 16 made an appropriation of $500,000 for the 
removal and colonization of the emancipated negroes, but this, as to the unex- 
pended balance, together with section eleven of the act of April 16, was re- 
pealed by the civil appropriation act of July 2, 1864. Acts of May 20 and 21 
provided for the education of colored children in the District. 

References. — Text in U.S. Statutes at Large, XII., 376-378. For the 
proceedings see the House and Senate Journals, 37th Cong., 2d Sess., and the 
Cong. Globe. Calvert's minority report, March 12, is House Report 58. For 
a report of the commissioners see House Exec. Doc. 42, 38th Cong., ist Sess. 

An Act for the Release of certain Persons held to Service or Labor 
in the District of Columbia. 

Be it enacted . . . , That all persons held to service or labor 
within the District of Columbia by reason of African descent are 
hereby discharged and freed of and from all claim to such service 



i862] SLAVERY IN DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA 451 

or labor; and from and after the passage of this act neither slav- 
ery nor involuntary servitude, except for crime, whereof the party 
shall be duly convicted, shall hereafter exist in said District. 

Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That all persons loyal to the 
United States, holding claims to service or labor against persons 
discharged therefrom by this act, may, within ninety days from the 
passage thereof, but not thereafter, present to the commissioners 
hereinafter mentioned their respective statements or petitions in 
writing, verified by oath or affirmation, setting forth the names, 
ages, and personal description of such persons, the manner in which 
said petitioners acquired such claim, and any facts touching the 
value thereof, and declaring his allegiance to the Government of 
the United States, and that he has not borne arms against the 
United States during the present rebellion, nor in any way given 
aid or comfort thereto : Provided, That the oath of the party to 
the petition shall not be evidence of the facts therein stated. 

Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That the President of the 
United States, with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall 
appoint three commissioners, residents of the District of Colum- 
bia, . . . who shall receive the petitions above mentioned, and 
who shall investigate and determine the validity and value of the 
claims therein presented, as aforesaid, and appraise and apportion, 
under the proviso hereto annexed, the value in money of the several 
claims by them found to be valid: Provided, however, That the 
entire sum so appraised and apportioned shall not exceed in the 
aggregate an amount equal to three hundred dollars for each person 
shown to have been so held by lawful claim : And provided, further , 
That no claim shall be allowed for any slave or slaves brought 
into said District after the passage of this act, nor for any slave 
claimed by any person who has borne arms against the Govern- 
ment of the United States in the present rebellion, or in any way 
given aid or comfort thereto, or which originates in or by virtue 
of any transfer heretofore made, or which shall hereafter be made 
by any person who has in any manner aided or sustained the 
rebellion against the Government of the United States. 



452 OATH OF OFFICE [July 2 

No. 130. Abolition of Slavery in the Ter- 
ritories 

June 19, 1862 

March 24, 1862, Isaac N. Arnold of Illinois introduced in the House a bill 
"to render freedom national and slavery sectional." Another bill with a simi- 
lar title was introduced May i by Owen Lovejoy of Illinois. The latter bill, 
with amended title, was reported May 8 as a substitute for the Arnold bill, 
and on the 12th passed the House by a vote of 85 to 50. The Senate, June 9, 
amended the House bill by substituting the text of the act as passed, the vote 
being 28 to 10. On the 17th the House concurred in the Senate amendment, 
and on the 19th the act was approved. The prohibition of the act was in- 
corporated in the later acts organizing the Territories of Arizona and Idaho. 

References. — Text in U.S. Statutes at Large, XII., 432. For the pro- 
ceedings see the House and Senate Journals, 37th Cong., 2d Sess., and the 
Cong. Globe. 

An Act to secure Freedom to all Persons within the Territories 
of the United States. 

Be it enacted . . . , That from and after the passage of this 
act there shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in any of 
the Territories of the United States now existing, or which may at 
any time hereafter be formed or acquired by the United States, 
otherwise than in punishment of crimes whereof the party shall 
have been duly convicted. 



No. 131. Oath of Office 

July 2, 1862 

By an act of August 6, 1861, all members of the civil departments of the 
government were required to take an oath of allegiance to the United States 
"against all enemies, domestic or foreign, . . . any ordinance, resolution, or 
law of any State convention or legislature to the contrary notwithstanding." 
An act of May 20, 1862, required voters in Washington and Georgetown, if 
challenged for dislovalty, to take a similar oath, with the addition of a clause 
declaring that the subscriber had "always been, loyal and true to the Govern- 
ment of the United States." An act of June 17 imposed upon grand and 



i862] OATH OF OFFICE 453 

petit jurors in United States courts an oath declaring "that you have not 
without duress and constraint, taken up arms, or joined any insurrection or 
rebellion against the United States; that you have not adhered to any in- 
surrection or rebellion, giving it aid and comfort; that you have not, directly 
or indirectly, given any assistance in money, or any other thing, to any person 
or persons whom you knew, or had good ground to believe, had joined, or 
was about to join, said insurrection and rebellion, or had resisted, or was about 
to resist, with force of arms, the execution of the laws of the United States ; and 
that you have not counselled or advised any person or persons to join any re- 
bellion against, or to resist with force of arms, the laws of the United States." 
The so-called "iron-clad" oath of July 2 had its origin in a bill introduced in 
the House, March 24, by James F. Wilson of Iowa, "declaring certain per- 
sons ineligible to office." June 4 a substitute reported by the Committee on 
Judiciary, being a modified form of an amendment previously offered by Hor- 
ace Maynard of Tennessee to a bill to free the slaves of rebels, was agreed to, 
and the bill passed, the vote being 78 to 47. The Senate, on motion of 
Garrett Davis of Kentucky, added an amendment excepting the Vice-Presi- 
dent and Senators and Representatives, the amended bill passing the Senate 
on the 23d by a vote of 33 to 5. The House disagreeing, the Senate receded 
from so much of its amendment as excepted Senators and Representatives, 
and in this form the bill passed. The acts of June 17 and July 2 were re- 
pealed by an act of May 13, 1884. 

References. — Text in U.S. Statutes at Large, XII., 502, 503. For the 
proceedings see the House and Senate Journals, 37th Cong., 2d Sess., and 
the Cong. Globe. On the loyalty of government employees see House Report 
16, 37th Cong., 2d Sess. On the modification of the oath see House Exec. 
Doc. 81, 39th Cong., ist Sess., House Report, 51, ibid., Senate Exec. Doc. 38, 
ibid., and No. 159, post. 

An Act to prescribe an Oath of Office, and for other Purposes. 

Be it enacted . . . , That hereafter every person elected or 
appointed to any office of honor or profit under the government 
of the United States, either in the civil, military or naval depart- 
ments of the public service, excepting the President of the United 
States, shall, before entering upon the duties of such office, and 
before being entitled to any of the salary or other emoluments 
thereof, take and subscribe the following oath or affirmation: 
"I, A. B., do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I have never volun- 
tarily borne arms against the United States since I have been a 
citizen thereof; that I have voluntarily given no aid, countenance, 
counsel, or encouragement to persons engaged in armed hostiUty 
thereto; that I have neither sought nor accepted nor attempted 
to exercise the functions of any office whatever, under any author- 



454 CONFISCATION ACT [July 17 

ity or pretended authority in hostility to the United States; that 
I have not yielded a voluntary support to any pretended govern- 
ment, authority, power or constitution vi^ithin the United States, 
hostile or inimical thereto. And I do further swear (or affirm) 
that, to the best of my knowledge and ability, I will support and 
defend the Constitution of the United States, against all enemies, 
foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance 
to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental 
reservation or purpose of evasion, and that I will well and faith- 
fully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to 
enter, so help me God;" . . . 



No. 132. Confiscation Act 

July 17, 1862 

A BILL "to confiscate the property of rebels for the payment of the ex- 
penses of the present rebellion" was reported in the House, May 14, 1862, by 
Thomas D. Eliot of Massachusetts, from the select committee on the confisca- 
tion of rebel property, together with a bill to free the slaves of rebels. On the 
26th a substitute for the two bills, offered by Morrill of Vermont on the 20th, 
was rejected by a vote of 25 to 122, and the bill passed, the vote being 82 to 
68. The House bill was more stringent than the act finally passed, but a 
substitute agreed to by the Senate, June 28, by a vote of 28 to 13, was thought 
by the House too lenient, and by a vote of 8 to 123 the amendment of the 
Senate was disagreed to. The report of the conference committee, being 
the Senate substitute with amendments, was agreed to by the House, July 11, 
by a vote of 82 to 42, and by. the Senate, July 12, by a vote of 28 to 13. 
President Lincoln had intended to veto the bill on the ground that under it 
offenders would be forever divested of title to their real estate, and punish- 
ment would thus be made to extend beyond the life of the guilty party. To 
obviate this objection, a joint resolution explanatory of the act was hurried 
through both houses July 17. Lincoln, in communicating to Congress hi.s 
approval of the act and the resolution, transmitted also the veto message 
which he had already prepared. A proclamation under section 6 of the act 
was issued the same day that the act as approved, and December 8, 1863, a 
proclamation of amnesty [No. 137] under section 13. The latter section 
was repealed, with the purpose of restricting the pardoning power of the 
President, July 17, 1867. 

References. — Text in U.S. Statutes at Large, XII., 589-592. For the 
proceedings see the House and Senate Journals, 37th Cong., 2d Sess., and the 
Cong. Globe. The texts of all amendments and substitutes are in the Globe. 
The debates called out numerous formal speeches. On the seizure of lands 



i862] CONFISCATION ACT 455 

under the act see a report by O. O. Howard, House Exec. Doc. 19, 39th Cong., 
ist Sess. ; see also Senate Exec. Doc. 58, 40th Cong., 2d Sess. 

An Act to suppress Insurrection, to punish Treason and Rebellion, 
to seize and corifiscate the Property of Rebels, and for other Fur- 
poses. 

Be it enacted . . . , That every person who shall hereafter com- 
mit the crime of treason against the United States, and shall be 
adjudged guilty thereof, shall suffer death, and all his slaves, if 
any, shall be declared and made free; or, at the discretion of the 
court, he shall be imprisoned for not less than five years and fined 
not less than ten thousand dollars, and all his slaves, if any, shall 
be declared and made free; . . . 

Sec. 2. And be it further enacted. That if any person shall 
hereafter incite, set on foot, assist, or engage in any rebellion or 
insurrection against the authority of the United States, or the laws 
thereof, or shall give aid or comfort thereto, or shall engage in, or 
give aid and comfort to, any such existing rebellion or insurrection, 
and be convicted thereof, such person shall be punished by im- 
prisonment for a period not exceeding ten years, or by a fine not 
exceeding ten thousand dollars, and by the liberation of all his 
slaves, if any he have; or by both of said punishments, at the 
discretion of the court. 

Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That every person guilty of 
either of the offences described in this act shall be forever incapable 
and disqualified to hold any office under the United States. 

Sec. 5. And be it further enacted, That, to insure the speedy 
termination of the present rebellion, it shall be the duty of the 
President of the United States to cause the seizure of all the estate 
and property, money, stocks, credits, and effects of the persons 
hereinafter named in this section, and to apply and use the same 
and the proceeds thereof for the support of the army of the United 
States, that is to say : 

First. Of any person hereafter acting as an officer of the army 
or navy of the rebels in arms against the government of the United 
States. 

Secondly. Of any person hereafter acting as President, Vice- 
President, member of Congress, judge of any court, cabinet officer, 



456 CONFISCATION ACT [July 17 

foreign minister, commissioner or consul of the so-called confeder- 
ate states of America. 

Thirdly. Of any person acting as governor of a state, member 
of a convention or legislature, or judge of any court of any of the 
so-called confederate states of America.' 

Fourthly. Of any person who, having held an office of honor, 
trust, or profit in the United States, shall hereafter hold an office 
in the so-called confederate states of America. 

Fifthly. Of any person hereafter holding any office or agency 
under the government of the so-called confederate states of Amer- 
ica, or under any of the several states of the said confederacy, or 
the laws thereof, whether such office or agency be national, state, 
or municipal in its name or character : Provided, That the persons, 
thirdly, fourthly, and fifthly above described shall have accepted 
their appointment or election since the date of the pretended 
ordinance of recession of the state, or shall have taken an oath 
of allegiance to, or to support the constitution of the so-called 
confederate states. 

Sixthly. Of any person who, owning property in any loyal 
State or Territory of the United States, or in the District of 
Columbia, shall hereafter assist and give aid and comfort to such 
rebellion; . . . 

******** 

Sec. g. And he it further enacted, That all slaves of persons 
who shall hereafter be engaged in rebellion against the govern- 
ment of the United States, or who shall in any way give aid or 
comfort thereto, escaping from such persons and taking refuge 
within the lines of the army; and all slaves captured from such 
persons or deserted by them and coming under the control of the 
government of the United States; and all slaves of such persons 
found on [or] being within any place occupied by rebel forces and 
afterwards occupied by the forces of the United States, shall be 
deemed captives of war, and shall be forever free of their servi- 
tude, and not again held as slaves. 

Sec. 10. And he it further enacted. That no slave escaping into 
any State, Territory, or the District of Columbia, from any other 
State, shall be delivered up, or in any way impeded or hindered of 
his liberty, except for crime, or some offence against the laws, 

' See joint resolution of July 17 {U. S. Stat, at Large, XII., 627). — Ed. 



i862] EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION 457 

unless the person claiming said fugitive shall first make oath that 
the person to whom the labor or service of such fugitive is alleged 
to be due is his lawful owner, and has not borne arms against the 
United States in the present rebellion, nor in any way given aid 
and comfort thereto; and no person engaged in the military or 
naval service of the United States shall, under any pretence what- 
ever, assume to decide on the validity of the claim of any person 
to the service or labor of any other person, or surrender up any 
such person to the claimant, on pain of being dismissed from the 
service. 

Sec. II. And be it further enacted, That the President of the 
United States is authorized to employ as many persons of African 
descent as he may deem necessary and proper for the suppression 
of this rebellion, and for this purpose he may organize and use 
them in such manner as he may judge best for the public welfare. 



No. 133. Emancipation Proclamation 

January i, 1863 

A DRAFT of an emancipation proclamation was read to the Cabinet by 
Lincoln July 22, 1862, but at Seward's suggestion the paper was laid aside 
until an important Union victory should have been won. The desired vic- 
tory came at Antietam, September 16-17. ^ preliminary proclamation was 
issued September 22, and the definitive one January i, 1863. December 15, 
in the House, a resolution declaring that the proclamation of September 22 
"is warranted by the Constitution," and that the policy of emancipation "was 
well chosen as a war measure, and is an exercise of power with proper regard 
for the rights of the States and the perpetuity of free government," was 
adopted by a vote of 78 to 51. 

References. — Text in U.S. Statutes at Large, XII., 1 268, 1 269. Various 
resolutions submitted in the House and Senate are collected in McPherson, 
Rebellion, 209-233; on Fremont's proclamation of August 31, 1861, see 
ibid., 245-247. See also House Exec. Doc. 72, 37th Cong., 3d Sess. 

Whereas, on . . . [September 22, 1862] . . . , a proclamation 
was issued by the President of the United States, containing, among 
other things, the following, to wit : 

"That on . . . [January i, 1863] . . . , all persons held as 



458 EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION [Jan. x 

slaves within any state or designated part of a state, the people 
whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, 
shall be then, thenceforward, and forever, free; and the Execu- 
tive Government of the United States, including the military 
and naval authority thereof, will recognize and maintain the 
freedom of such persons, and will do no act or acts to repress 
such persons, or any of them, in any efforts they may make for 
their actual freedom. 

"That the Executive will, on the first day of January afore- 
said, by proclamation, designate the states and parts of states, 
if any, in which the people thereof, respectively, shall then be in 
rebellion against the United States; and the fact that any state, 
or the people thereof, shall on that day be in good faith repre- 
sented in the Congress of the United States, by members chosen 
thereto at elections wherein a majority of the qualified voters of such 
states shall have participated, shall, in the absence of strong counter- 
vailing testimony, be deemed conclusive evidence that such state, 
and the people thereof, are not then in rebellion against the United 
States." 

Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United 
States, by virtue of the power in me vested as commander-in- 
chief of the army and navy of the United States, in time of actual 
armed rebellion against the authority and Government of the 
United States, and as a fit and necessary war measure for sup- 
pressing said rebellion, do, on this first day of January, . . . 
[1863] . . . , and in accordance with my purpose so to do, publicly 
proclaimed for the full period of one hundred days from the day 
first above mentioned, order and designate as the states and parts 
of states wherein the people thereof, respectively, are this day in 
rebellif)n against the United States, the following, to wit : 

Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, (except the parishes of St. Ber- 
nard, Plaquemines, Jefferson, St. John, St. Charles, St. James, 
Ascension, Assumption, Terre Bonne, Lafourche, St. Mary, St. 
Martin, and Orleans, including the city of New Orleans,) Missis- 
sippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, 
and \'irginia, (except the forty-eight counties designated as West 
Virginia, and also the counties of Berkeley, Accomac, North- 
ampton, Elizabeth City, York, Princess Ann, and Norfolk, 
including the cities of Norfolk and Portsmouth,) and which 



1863] ENROLMENT ACT 459 

excepted parts are for the present left precisely as if this procla- 
mation were not issued. 

And by virtue of the power and for the purpose aforesaid, I 
do order and declare that all persons held as slaves within said 
designated states and parts of states are, and henceforward 
shall be, free; and that the Executive Government of the United 
States, including the military and naval authorities thereof, will 
recognize and maintain the freedom of said persons. 

And I hereby enjoin upon the people so declared to be free 
to abstain from all violence, unless in necessary self-defence; 
and I recommend to them that, in all cases when allowed, they 
labor faithfully for reasonable wages. 

And I further declare and make known that such persons, of 
suitable condition, will be received into the armed service of the 
United States to garrison forts, positions, stations, and other 
places, and to man vessels of all sorts in said service. 

And upon this act, sincerely believed to be an act of justice, 
warranted by the Constitution upon military necessity, I invoke 
the considerate judgment of mankind and the gracious favor of 
Almighty God. 



No. 134. Enrolment Act 

March 3, 1863 

August 4, 1862, Lincoln ordered a draft of 300,000 men. Four days later 
it was ordered that no citizen liable to be drafted should be allowed to go to 
a foreign country. The draft was completed early in September. A bill to 
provide for enrolling and calling out the national forces was reported in the 
Senate, February 9, 1863, by Wilson of Massachusetts, from the Committee 
on Military Affairs and Militia, to whom the subject had been referred, and on 
the i6th passed without a division. In the House a motion to limit the enrol- 
ment to white citizens was lost by a vote of 53 to 85; an attempt to strike 
out the $300 commutation clause also failed, the vote being 67 to 87. Febru- 
ary 25 the bill passed the House. The Senate concurred in the House amend- 
ments, and March 3 the act was approved. A proclamation under section 
twenty-six of the act was issued March 10, followed May 8 by a proclamation 
relative to the status of aliens under the act. 

References. — Text in U.S. Statutes at Large, XII., 731-737. For the 



460 ENROLMENT ACT [March 3 

proceedings see the House and Senate Journals, 37th Cong., 3d Sess., and the 
Cong. Globe. A summary of the bill as reported in the Senate is in the Globe, 
February 16. The executive orders of August 4 and 8, 1862, are in Richard- 
son, Messages and Papers of the Presidents, VI., 120-121. On the enforce- 
ment of the act see the annual report of the Secretary of War, 1863. 

An Act for enrolling and calling out the national Forces, and for 
other Purposes. 

Whereas there now exist in the United States an insurrection 
and rebeUion against the authority thereof, and it is, under 
the Constitution of the United States, the duty of the govern- 
ment to suppress insurrection and rebeUion, to guarantee to 
each State a repubhcan form of government, and to preserve 
the pubUc tranquilUty; and vi^hereas, for these high purposes, 
a mihtary force is indispensable, to raise and support which 
all persons ought willingly to contribute; and whereas no ser- 
vice can be more praiseworthy and honorable than that which 
is rendered for the maintenance of the Constitution and Union, 
and the consequent preservation of free government: There- 
fore — 

Be it enacted . . . , That all able-bodied male citizens of the 
United States, and persons of foreign birth who shall have de- 
clared on oath their intention to become citizens under and in 
pursuance of the laws thereof, between the ages of twenty and 
forty -five years, except as hereinafter excepted, are hereby declared 
to constitute the national forces, and shall be liable to perform 
military duty in the service of the United States when called out by 
the President for that purpose. 

Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That the following persons 
be, and they are hereby, excepted and exempt from the provi- 
sions of this act, and shall not be liable to military duty under 
the same, to wit: Such as are rejected as physically or mentally 
unfit for the service; also, First the Vice-President of the United 
States, the judges of the various courts of the United States, the 
heads of the various executive departments of the government, 
and the governors of the se^'eral States. Second, the only son 
liable to military duty of a widow dependent upon his labor for 
support. Third, the only son of aged or infirm parent or parents 
dependent upon his labor for support. Fourth, where there are 
two or more sons of aged or infirm parents subject to draft, the 



1863] ENROLMENT ACT 461 

father, or, if he be dead, the mother, may elect which son shall 
be exempt. Fifth, the only brother of children not twelve years 
old, having neither father nor mother dependent upon his labor 
for support. Sixth, the father of motherless children under 
twelve years of age dependent upon his labor for support. Sev- 
enth, where there are a father and sons in the same family and 
household, and two of them are in the military service of the 
United States as non-commissioned officers, musicians, or pri- 
vates, the residue of such family and household, not exceeding 
two, shall be exempt. And no persons but such as are herein 
excepted shall be exempt: Provided, however, That no person 
who has been convicted of any felony shall be enrolled or per- 
mitted to serve in said forces. 

Sec. 3. And be it further enacted. That the national forces of 
the United States not now in the military service, enrolled under 
this act, shall be divided into two classes: the first of which 
shall comprise all persons subject to do military duty between 
the ages of twenty and thirty-five years, and all unmarried per- 
sons subject to do military duty above the age of thirty-five and 
under the age of forty-five; the second class shall comprise all 
other persons subject to do military duty, and they shall not, in 
any district, be called into the service of the United States until 
those of the first class shall have been called.^ 

Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That, for greater conven- 
ience in enrolling, calling out, and organizing the national forces, 
and for the arrest of deserters and spies of the enemy, the United 
States shall be divided into districts, of which the District of 
Columbia shall constitute one, each territory of the United 
States shall constitute one or more, as the President shall 
direct, and each congressional district of the respective states, 
as fixed by a law of the state next preceding the enrolment, shall 
constitute one : . . . 

Sec. 5. And be it further enacted. That for each of said dis- 
tricts there shall be appointed by the President a provost-mar- 
shal, . . . who shall be under the direction and subject to the 
orders of a provost-marshal-general, . . . whose office shall be 
at the seat of government, forming a separate bureau of the War 
Department. . . . 

1 See act of February 24, 1864, section 11. — Ed. 



462 ENROLMENT ACT [March 3 

[Sections 6 and 7. Duties of provost-marshal-general and pro- 
vost marshals.] 

Sec. 8. And be it further enacted, That in each of said districts 
there shall be a board of enrolment, to be composed of the ])ro- 
vost-marshal, as president, and two other persons, to be ap- 
pointed by the President of the United States, one of whom shall 
be a licensed and practising physician and surgeon. 

Sec. g. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of 
the said board to divide the district into sub-districts of con- 
venient size, if they shall deem it necessary, not exceeding two, 
without the direction of the Secretary of War, and to appoint, 
on or before the tenth day of March next, and in each alternate 
year thereafter, an enrolling officer for each sub-district, and to 
furnish him with proper blanks and instructions; and he shall 
immediately proceed to enrol all persons subject to military 
duty, noting their respective places of residence, ages on the 
first day of July following, and their occupation, and shall, on or 
before the first day of April, report the same to the board of 
enrolment, to be consolidated into one list, a copy of which shall 
be transmitted to the provost-marshal-general on or before the 
first day of May succeeding the enrolment : . . . 

Sec. II. And be it further enacted, That all persons thus en- 
rolled shall be subject, for two years after the first day of July 
succeeding the enrolment, to be called into the mifitary service 
of the United States, and to continue in service during the present 
rebellion, not, however, exceeding the term of three years. . . . 

Sec. 12. And be it further enacted, That whenever it may be 
necessary to call out the national forces for military service, the 
President is hereby authorized to assign to each district the number 
of men to be furnished by said district ; and thereupon the enrolling 
board shall, under the direction of the President, make a draft of 
the recjuired number, and fifty per cent, in adcHtion. . . . 

Sec. 13. And be it further enacted. That any person drafted 
and notified to appear as aforesaid, may, on or before the day 
fixed for his appearance, furnish an acceptable substitute to 
take his place in the draft; or he may pay to such person as the 
Secretary of War may authorize to receive it, such sum, not ex- 
ceeding three hundred dollars, as the Secretary may determine, 



1863] HABEAS CORPUS 463 

for the procuration of each substitute; . . . And any person 
failing to report after due service of notice, as herein prescribed, 
without furnishing a substitute, or paying the required sum 
therefor, shall be deemed a deserter ... 

Sec. 25. And be it further enacted, That if any person shall 
resist any draft of men enrolled under this act into the service 
of the United States, or shall counsel or aid any person to re- 
sist any such draft; or shall assault or obstruct any officer in 
making such draft, or in the performance of any service in rela- 
tion thereto; or shall counsel any person to assault or obstruct 
any such officer, or shall counsel any drafted men not to appear 
at the place of rendezvous, or wilfully dissuade them from the 
performance of military duty as required by law, such person 
shall be subject to summary arrest by the provost-marshal, and 
shall be forthwith delivered to the civil authorities, and, upon 
conviction thereof, be punished by a fine not exceeding five hundred 
dollars, or by imprisonment not exceeding two years, or by both 
of said punishments. 



No. 135. Act relating to Habeas Corpus 

March 3, 1863 

April 27, 1S61, Lincoln by executive order authorized General Scott, in 
his discretion, to suspend the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus on any 
military line between Philadelphia and Washington. July 2 this authoriza- 
tion was extended to the military line between New York and Washington. 
A proclamation of May 10 authorized suspension in the islands of Key West, 
the Tortugas, and Santa Rosa. Doubt as to the legality of these executive 
orders, however, reenforced by public criticism of the numerous arrests of 
civilians in pursuance of them, led to the issue, February 14, 1862, of an order 
directing the release of political prisoners held in military custody, "on their 
subscribing to a parole engaging them to render no aid or comfort to the 
enemies in hostility to the United States"; but a proclamation of September 
24 declared all disloyal persons subject to martial law, and suspended the 
privilege of the writ as to such persons. An act of August 6, 1861, had in the 
meantime validated all the acts, proclamations, and orders of the President, 
relating to military affairs, i.ssued since the 4th of March preceding. A bill 



464 HABEAS CORPUS [March 3 

"to indemnify the President and other persons for suspending the privilege of 
the writ of habeas corpus, and acts done in pursuance thereof," was introduced 
in the House, December 8, 1S62, by Thaddeus Stevens, and passed the same 
day, notwithstanding strong opposition, by a vote of 91 to 46. On the 22d 
a protest agaitist the bill, signed by thirty-six members of the House, was, by a 
vote of 75 to 40, refused entry on the journal. The bill was reported with 
amendments in the Senate January 15, 1863, and passed that body on the 
27th, after long discussion, by a vote of 33 to 7. The House, by a vote of 35 
to 114, refused to agree to the Senate amendments, and the bill received its 
final form from a conference committee, the Senate receding from its amend- 
ments and accepting a modifieJ form of the House bill. A proclamation of 
September 15, under the act, declared a general suspension of the privilege 
of the writ throughout the United States; this was revoked as to the loyal 
States December i, 1865. An amendatory act was passed May 11, 1866. 
An act of March 2, 1867, validated all acts, proclamations, and orders of the 
President respecting martial law, &c., after March 4, 1861, and before 
July I, 1866. 

References. — Text in U.S. Statutes at Large, XH., 755-758. For the 
proceedings see the House and Senate Journals, 37th Cong., 3d Sess., and 
the Cong. Globe. The Pendleton protest is in the Globe, December 22; 
the Senate amendments, ibid., February 19, House proceedings. Numerous 
orders, reports, letters, etc., are collected in McPherson, Rebellion, 152-194; 
see also House Exec. Doc. 6, 37th Cong., ist Sess., and Senate Exec. Doc. 11, 
37th Cong., 3d Sess. For Taney's opinion, 1861, against the right of the 
President to suspend, see Ex parte Merry man, Taney's Reports, 246; cf. 
Tyler, Taney, chap. 6. The opinion of Bates affirming the right is in House 
Exec. Doc. 5, 37th Cong., ist Sess. Cf. Ex parte Milligan (1866), 4 Wallace, 
2, and Garfield's argument. Works, I., 158; Vallandigham's Case, 1 Wallace, 
243. On Lincoln's proclamation of September 24, 1862, see Curtis, Constitu- 
tional History, II., 668-686. The act of indemnity of March 2, 1867, is in 
MacDonald's Select Statutes, No. 58. See also Thayer, Cases on Constitu- 
tional Law, 2374, 2375; reports of the Provost Marshal General; Whiting, 
War Powers. 



An Act relating to Habeas Corpus, and regulating Judicial 
Proceedings in Certain Cases. 

Be it enacted . . . , That, during the present rebellion, the 
President of the United States, whenever, in his judgment, the 
public safety may require it, is authorized to suspend the privi- 
lege of the writ of habeas corpus in any case throughout the 
United States, or any part thereof. And whenever and wher- 
ever the said privilege shall be suspended, as aforesaid, no mili- 
tary or other officer shall be compelled, in answer to any writ 
of habeas corpus, to return the body of any person or persons 



1863] HABEAS CORPUS 465 

detained by him by authority of the President; but upon the 
certificate, under oath, of the ofiicer having charge of any one 
so detained that such person is detained by him as a prisoner 
under authority of the President, further proceedings under the 
writ of habeas corpus shall be suspended by the judge or court 
having issued the said writ, so long as said suspension by the 
President shall remain in force, and said rebellion continue. 

Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That the Secretary of State 
and the Secretary of War be, and they are hereby, directed, as 
soon as may be practicable, to furnish to the judges of the 
circuit and district courts of the United States and of the Dis- 
trict of Columbia a list of the names of all persons, citizens of 
states in which the administration of the laws has continued 
unimpaired in the said Federal courts, who are now, or may 
hereafter be, held as prisoners of the United States, by order or 
authority of the President of the United States or either of said 
Secretaries, in any fort, arsenal, or other place, as state or politi- 
cal prisoners, or otherwise than as prisoners of war; the said 
list to contain the names of all those who reside in the respec- 
tive jurisdictions of said judges, or who may be deemed by the 
said Secretaries, or either of them, to have violated any law of 
the United States in any of said jurisdictions, and also the date 
of each arrest; . . . And in all cases where a grand jury, hav- 
ing attended any of said courts having jurisdiction in the prem- 
ises, after the passage of this act, and after the furnishing of 
said list, as aforesaid, has terminated its session without finding 
an indictment or presentment, or other proceeding against any 
such person, it shall be the duty of the judge of said court forth- 
with to make an order that any such prisoner desiring a dis- 
charge froiTl said imprisonment be brought before him to be 
discharged; and every officer of the United States having cus- 
tody of such prisoner is hereby directed immediately to obey and 
execute said judge's order; and in case he shall delay or refuse 
so to do, he shall be subject to indictment for a misdemeanor, 
and be punished by a fine of not less than five hundred dollars 
and imprisonment in the common jail for a period not "less than 
six months, in the discretion of the court; Provided, however, 
That no person shall be discharged by virtue of the provisions of 
this act until after he or she shall have taken an oath of allegiance 



466 HABEAS CORPUS [March 3 

to the Government of the United States, and to support the Con- 
stitution thereof; and that he or she will not hereafter in any way 
encourage or give aid and comfort to the present rebellion, or the 
supporters thereof. . . . 

Sec. 3. And be ii further enacted, That in case any of such 
prisoners shall be under indictment or presentment for any 
offence against the laws of the United States, and by existing 
laws bail or a recognizance may be taken for the appearance 
for trial of such person, it shall be the duty of said judge at 
once to discharge such person upon bail or recognizance for 
trial as aforesaid. And in case the said Secretaries of State 
and War shall for any reason refuse or omit to furnish the said 
list of persons held as prisoners as aforesaid at the time of the 
passage of this act within twenty days thereafter, and of such 
persons as hereafter may be arrested within twenty days from 
the time of the arrest, any citizen may, after a grand jury shall 
have terminated its session without finding an indictment or 
presentment, as provided in the second section of this act, by 
a petition alleging the facts aforesaid touching any of the per- 
sons so as aforesaid imprisoned, supported by the oath of such 
petitioner or any other credible person, obtain and be entitled 
to have the said judge's order to discharge such prisoner on the 
same terms and conditions prescribed in the second section of 
this act: Provided, however. That the said judge shall be satis- 
fied such allegations are true. 

Sec. 4. And be it further enacted. That any order of the Presi- 
dent, or under his authority, made at any time during the exist- 
ence of the present rebellion, shall be a defence in all courts to 
any action or prosecution, civil or criminal, pending, or to be 
commenced, for any search, seizure, arrest, or imprisonment, 
made, done, or committed, or acts omitted to be done, under 
and by virtue of such order, or under color of any law of Con- 
gress, and such defence may be made by special plea, or under 
the general issue. 



1863] FOREIGN MEDIATION 467 

No. 136. Resolution against Foreign 
Mediation 

March 3, 1863 

December 4, 1862, Thaddeus Stevens offered in the House four resolu- 
tions, one of which declared "that this government can never accept the 
mediation nor permit the intervention of any foreign nation during this re- 
bellion in our domestic affairs." A report from the Secretary of State, with 
documents, " on the subjects of mediation, arbitration, or other measures look- 
ing to the termination of the existing civil war," was laid before the Senate 
February 12, 1863, and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations, which 
reported on the 28th, through Charles Sumner, the resolution following. The 
resolution passed the Senate March 3, by a vote of 31 to 5, and the House on 
the same day by a vote of 103 to 28. 

References. — Text in Senate Journal, 37th Cong ,'3d Sess., 367, 368. 
There was no debate in the House. For the diplomatic correspondence see 
British and Foreign State Papers, LV., 412-451. 

Whereas it appears from the diplomatic correspondence sub- 
mitted to Congress that a proposition, friendly in form, looking 
to pacification through foreign meditation, has been made to the 
United States by the Emperor of the French and promptly 
declined by the President; and whereas the idea of mediation 
or intervention in some shape may be regarded by foreign gov- 
ernments as practicable, and such governments, through this 
misunderstanding, may be led to proceedings tending to embar- 
rass the friendly relations which now exist between them and 
the United States; and whereas, in order to remove for the 
future all chance of misunderstanding on this subject, and to 
secure for the United States the full enjoyment of that freedom 
from foreign interference which is one of the highest rights of 
independent states, it seems fit that Congress should declare its 
convictions thereon : Therefore — 

Resolved, (the House of Representatives concurring,) That 
while in times past the United States have sought and accepted 
the friendly mediation or arbitration of foreign powers for the 
pacific adjustment of international questions, where the United 
States were the party of the one part and some other sovereign 
power the party of the other part; and while they are not dis- 



468 FOREIGN MEDIATION [March 3 

posed to misconstrue the natural and humane desire of foreign 
powers to aid in arresting domestic troubles, which, widening in 
their influence, have afflicted other countries, especially in view 
of the circumstance, deeply regretted by the American people, 
that the blow aimed by the rebellion at the national life has fallen 
heavily upon the laboring population of Europe: yet, notwith- 
standing these things. Congress cannot hesitate to regard every 
proposition of foreign interference in the present contest as so 
far unreasonable and inadmissible that its only explanation will 
be found in a misunderstanding of the true state of the question, 
and of the real character of the war in which the republic is 
engaged. 

Resolved, That the United States are now grappling with an 
unprovoked and wicked rebellion, which is seeking the destruc- 
tion of the republic that it may build a new power, whose 
corner-stone, according to the confession of its chief, shall be 
slavery; that for the suppression of this rebellion, and thus to 
save the republic and to prevent the establishment of such a 
power, the national government is now employing armies and 
fleets, in full faith that through these efforts all the purposes of 
conspirators and rebels will be crushed; that while engaged in 
this struggle, on which so much depends, any proposition from 
a foreign power, whatever form it may take, having for its object 
the arrest of these efforts, is, just in proportion to its influence, 
an encouragement to the rebellion, and to its declared preten- 
sions, and, on this account, is calculated to prolong and embitter 
the conflict, to cause increased expenditure of blood and treas- 
ure, and to postpone the much-desired day of peace; that, with 
these convictions, and not doubting that every such proposition, 
although made with good intent, is injurious to the national 
interests, Congress will be obliged to look upon any further 
attempt in the same direction as an unfriendly act which it 
earnestly deprecates, to the end that nothing may occur abroad 
to strengthen the rebellion or to weaken those relations of good 
will with foreign powers which the United States are happy to 
cultivate. 

Resolved, That the rebellion from its beginning, and far back 
even in the conspiracy which preceded its outbreak, was encour- 
aged by the hope of support from foreign powers; that its chiefs 



1863] FOREIGN MEDIATION 469 

frequently boasted that the people of Europe were so far de- 
pendent upon regular supplies of the great southern staple that, 
sooner or later, their governments would be constrained to take 
side with the rebellion in some effective form, even to the extent 
of forcible intervention, if the milder form did not prevail; that 
the rebellion is now sustained by this hope, which every propo- 
sition of foreign interference quickens anew, and that, without 
this life-giving support, it must soon yield to the just and paternal 
authority of the national government; that, considering these 
things, which are aggravated by the motive of the resistance 
thus encouraged, the United States regret that foreign powers 
have not frankly told the chiefs of the rebellion that the work in 
which they are engaged is hateful, and that a new government, 
such as they seek to found, with slavery as its acknowledged 
cornerstone, and with no other declared object of separate exist- 
ence, is so far shocking to civilization and the moral sense of 
mankind that it must not expect welcome or recognition in the 
commonwealth of nations. 

Resolved, That the United States, confident in the justice of 
their cause, which is the cause, also, of good government and of 
human rights everywhere among men; anxious for the speedy 
restoration of peace, which shall secure tranquillity at home and 
remove all occasion of complaint abroad; and awaiting with 
well-assured trust the final suppression of the rebellion, through 
which all these things, rescued from present danger, will be 
secured forever, and the republic, one and indivisible, trium- 
phant over its enemies, will continue to stand an example to 
mankind, hereby announce, as their unalterable purpose, that the 
war will be vigorously prosecuted, according to the humane 
principles of Christian states, until the rebellion shall be over- 
come; and they reverently invoke upon their cause the bless- 
ings of Almighty God. 

Resolved, That the President be requested to transmit a copy 
of these resolutions, through the Secretary of State, to the min- 
isters of the United States in foreign countries, that the declara- 
tion and protest herein set forth may be communicated by them 
to the governments to which they are accredited. 



470 PROCLAMATION OF AMNESTY [Dec. 8 



No. 137. Proclamation of Amnesty 

December 8, 1863 

The proclamation of December 8, 1863, offering amnesty on conditions, 
was issued under authority of the so-called Confiscation Act of July 17, 1S62 
[No. 132]. In his annual message of the same date, Lincoln urged the 
propriety of the proclamation, and expressed the opinion "that nothing is 
attempted beyond what is amply justified by the Constitution." A supple- 
mentary proclamation of March 26, 1864, explained that the previous procla- 
mation did not apply to prisoners of war. 

References. — Text in U .S. Statutes at Large, XIII., Appendix, vii-ix. 
A circular to United States district attorneys is in IslcPhcxson, Rebellion, 148, 
149. 

[The proclamation begins with a statement of the constitu- 
tional right of the President to grant pardons, of the existence 
of rebellion in certain States, of the authorization of pardon by 
proclamation under the Confiscation Act, and of the previous 
issuance of proclamations "in regard to the Uberation of slaves," 
and continues:] and 

Whereas, it is now desired by some persons heretofore en- 
gaged in said rebellion to resume their allegiance to the United 
States, and to reinaugurate loyal state governments within and 
for their respective states : Therefore — 

I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, do pro- 
claim, declare, and make known to all persons who have, directly 
or by implication, participated in the existing rebellion, e.xcept 
as hereinafter excepted, that a full pardon is hereby granted to 
them and each of them, with restoration of all rights of property, 
except as to slaves, and in property cases where rights of third 
parties shall have intervened, and upon the condition that every 
such person shall take and subscribe an oath, and thenceforward 
keep and maintain said oath inviolate; and which oath shall be 
registered for permanent preservation, and shall be of the tenor 
and effect following, to wit : — 

"I, , do solemnly swear, in presence of Almighty 

God, that I will henceforth faithfully support, protect, and de- 
fend the Constitution of the United States and the Union of the 
States thereunder; and that I will, in like manner, abide by and 
faithfully support all acts of congress passed during the existing 



1863] PROCLAMATION OF AMNESTY 47 1 

rebellion with reference to slaves, so long and so far as not re- 
pealed, modified, or held void by congress, or by decision of the 
supreme court; and that I will, in like manner, abide by and 
faithfully support all proclamations of the President made during 
the existing rebellion having reference to slaves, so long and so 
far as not modified or declared void by decision of the supreme 
court. So help me God." 

The persons excepted from the benefits of the foregoing pro- 
visions are all who are, or shall have been, civil or diplomatic 
officers or agents of the so-called Confederate government; all 
who have left judicial stations under the United States to aid 
the rebellion ; all who are, or shall have been, military or naval 
ofl&cers of said so-called Confederate government above the rank 
of colonel in the army or of lieutenant in the navy; all who left 
seats in the United States congress to aid the rebellion; all who 
resigned commissions in the army or navy of the United States 
and afterwards aided the rebellion; and all who have engaged 
in any way in treating colored persons, or white persons in 
charge of such, otherwise than lawfully as prisoners of war, and 
which persons may have been found in the United States service 
as soldiers, seamen, or in any other capacity. 

And I do further proclaim, declare, and make known that 
whenever, in any of the States of Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, 
Mississippi, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, South Caro- 
lina, and North Carolina,^ a number of persons, not less than 
one tenth in number of the votes cast in such state at the presi- 
dential election ... [of i860] . . . , each having taken the oath 
aforesaid, and not having since violated it, and being a qualified 
voter by the election law of the state existing immediately before 
the so-called act of secession, and excluding all others, shall re- 
establish a state government which shall be republican, and in 
nowise contravening said oath, such shall be recognized as the 
true government of the state, and the state shall receive there- 
under the benefits of the constitutional provision which declares 
that "the United States shall guaranty to every state in this Union 
a republican form of government, and shall protect each of them 

1 The omission of Virs^inia is explained by the fact that Lincoln had already 
recognized the so-called Pierpont government. — Ed. 



472 PROCLAMATION OF AMNESTY [Dec. 8 

against invasion; and on application of the legislature, or the 
executive, (when the legislature cannot be convened,) against 
domestic violence." 

And I do further proclaim, declare, and make known that any 
provision which may be adopted by such state government in 
relation to the freed people of such state, which shall recognize 
and declare their permanent freedom, provide for their educa- 
tion, and which may yet be consistent as a temporary arrange- 
ment with their present condition as a laboring, landless, and 
homeless class, will not be objected to by the National Executive. 

And it is suggested as not improper that, in constructing a 
loyal state government in any state, the name of the state, the 
boundary, the subdivisions, the constitution, and the general 
code of laws, as before the rebellion, be maintained, subject only 
to the modifications made necessary by the conditions hereinbe- 
fore stated, and such others, if any, not contravening said con- 
ditions, and which may be deemed expedient by those framing 
the new state government. 

To avoid misunderstanding, it may be proper to say that this 
proclamation, so far as it relates to state governments, has no 
reference to states wherein loyal state governments have all the 
while been maintained. And, for the same reason, it may be 
proper to further say, that whether members sent to congress 
from any state shall be admitted to seats constitutionally rests 
exclusively with the respective houses, and not to any extent 
with the Executive. And still further, that this proclamation is 
intended to present the people of the states wherein the national 
authority has been suspended, and loyal state governments have 
been subverted, a mode in and by which the national authority 
and loyal state governments may be reestablished within said 
states, or in any of them; and, while the mode presented is the 
best the Executive can suggest, with his present impressions, 
it must not be understood that no other possible mode would 
be acceptable. 



1864] NATIONAL BANK ACT 473 



No. 138. National Bank Act 

June 3, 1864 

The beginning of the present national bank system is to be found in the 
act "to provide a national currency, secured by a pledge of United States 
stocks, and to provide for the circulation and redemption thereof," approved 
February 25, 1863. This act, however, proved defective, and the comp- 
troller of the currency, in a report accompanying the annual report of the 
Secretary of the Treasury, December 10, 1863, made numerous suggestions 
for amendment. A bill with the same title as the existing act was reported 
in the House, March 14, by Hooper of Massachusetts, from the Committee 
of Ways and Means, and after protracted discussion was laid on the table by 
a vote of 90 to 44. Another bill with similar title was introduced by Hooper 
April II, and passed the House on the i8th by a vote of 80 to 66. A bill to 
the same effect had been introduced in the Senate, April 8, by John Sherman 
of Ohio, and referred to the Committee on Finance, which, on the 21st, re- 
ported the House bill with amendments. The amended bill passed the Senate 
May II, by a vote of 30 to 9. The House disagreed to the Senate amend- 
ments, and the bill received its final form from a conference committee, whose 
report was accepted by the houses June i. 

References. — Text in U .S. Statutes at Large, XIII., 99-118. Only the 
most important parts of the act are given below. The act has been many 
times amended ; editions showing the various changes are issued from time to 
time by the comptroller of the currency. For the proceedings see the House 
and Senate Journals, 38th Cong., ist Sess., and the Cong. Globe, where will 
be found the texts of all the important amendments proposed or adopted. A 
comparison of Hooper's first bill with the act of February 25 will be found in 
the Globe, March 23. 

An Act to provide a National Currency, secured by a Pledge oj 
United States Bonds, and to provide for the Circulation and 
Redemption thereof. 

Be it enacted . . . , That there shall be established in the 
treasury department a separate bureau, which shall be charged 
with the execution of this and all other laws that may be passed 
by congress respecting the issue and regulation of a national 
currency secured by United States bonds. The chief officer of 
the said bureau shall be denominated the comptroller of the 
currency, and shall be under the general direction of the Secre- 
tary of the Treasury. He shall be appointed by the President, 
on the recommendation of the Secretary of the Treasury, by 
and with the advice and consent of the Senate, and shall hold 



474 NATIONAL BANK ACT [June 3 

his office for the term of five years unless sooner removed by 
the President, upon reasons to be communicated by him to the 
Senate. . . . The comptroller and deputy-comptroller shall not, 
either directly or indirectly, be interested in any association issuing 
national currency under the provisions of this act. 

Sec. 5. And be it further enacted, That associations for carry- 
ing on the business of banking may be formed by any number 
of persons, not less in any case than five, who shall enter into 
articles of association, which shall specify in general terms the 
object for which the association is formed, and may contain any 
other provisions, not inconsistent with the provisions of this act, 
which the association may see fit to adopt for the regulation of 
the business of the association and the conduct of its affairs, 
which said articles shall be signed by the persons uniting to 
form the association, and a copy of them forwarded to the 
comptroller of the currency, to be filed and preserved in his 
office. 

Sec. 7. And be it further enacted, That no association shall 
be organized under this act, with a less capital than one hun- 
dred thousand dollars, nor in a city whose population exceeds 
fifty thousand persons, with a less capital than two hundred 
thousand dollars: Provided, That banks with a capital of not 
less than fifty thousand dollars may, with the approval of the 
Secretary of the Treasury, be organized in any place the popu- 
lation of which does not exceed six thousand inhabitants.^ 

Sec. 8. And be it further enacted, That every association formed 
pursuant to the provisions of this act shall from the date of the 
execution of its organization certificate, be a body corporate, but 
shall transact no business except such as may be incidental to its 
organization and necessarily preliminary, until authorized by the 
comptroller of the currency to commence the business of banking. 
Such association shall have power to adopt a corporate seal, 
and shall have succession by the name designated in its organi- 
zation certificate, for the period of twenty years from its organi- 
zation, unless sooner dissolved according to the provisions of its 
articles of association, or by the act of its shareholders owning two 

* See act of March 14, 1900, section 10. — Ed. 



1864] NATIONAL BANK ACT 475 

thirds of its stock, or unless the franchise shall be forfeited by a 
violation of this act; by such name it may make contracts . . . 
[ &c.] . . . , and exercise under this act all such incidental powers 
as shall be necessary to carry on the business of banking by dis- 
counting and negotiating promissory notes, drafts, bills of exchange, 
and other evidences of debt; by receiving deposits; by buying 
and selUng exchange, coin, and bullion; by loaning money on 
personal security; by obtaining, issuing, and circulating notes 
according to the provisions of this act . . . 

Sec. 9. And be it further enacted, That the affairs of every 
association shall be managed by not less than five directors, one 
of whom shall be the president. Every director shall, during 
his whole term of service, be a citizen of the United States; and 
at least three fourths of the directors shall have resided in the 
state, territory, or district in which such association is located 
one year next preceding their election as directors, and be resi- 
dents of the same during their continuance in office. Each 
director shall own, in his own right, at least ten shares of the 
capital stock of the association of which he is a director. . . . 

Sec. II. And be it further enacted, That in all elections of 
directors, and in deciding all questions at meetings of share- 
holders, each shareholder shall be entitled to one vote on each 
share of stock held by him. . . . 

Sec. 12. And be it further enacted, That the capital stock of 
any association formed under this act shall be divided into shares 
of one hundred dollars each, and be deemed personal property 
and transferable on the books of the association in such manner 
as may be prescribed in the by-laws or articles of association. . . . 
The shareholders of each association formed under the provisions 
of this act, and of each existing bank or banking association that 
may accept the provisions of this act, shall be held individually 
responsible, equally and ratably, and not one for another, for all 
contracts, debts, and engagements of such association to the extent 
of the amount of their stock therein at the par value thereof, in 
addition to the amount invested in such shares ; except that share- 
holders of any banking association now existing under state laws, 
having not less than five millions of dollars of capital actually paid 
in, and a surplus of twenty per centum on hand, both to be deter- 



476 NATIONAL BANK ACT [June 3 

mined by the comptroller of the currency, shall be liable only to 
the amount invested in their shares K . . 

Sec. 14. And be it further enacted, That at least fifty per 
centum of the capital stock of every association shall be paid in 
before it shall be authorized to commence business; and the re- 
mainder of the capital stock of such association shall be paid 
in instalments of at least ten per centum each on the whole amount 
of the capital as frequently as one instalment at the end of each 
succeeding month from the time it shall be authorized by the 
comptroller to commence business. . . . 

Sec. 16. And be it further enacted, That every association, 
after having complied with the provisions of this act, prelimi- 
nary to the commencement of banking business under its pro- 
visions, and before it shall be authorized to commence business, 
shall transfer and deliver to the treasurer of the United States 
any United States registered bonds bearing interest to an amount 
not less than thirty thousand dollars nor less than one third of the 
capital stock paid in, which bonds shall be deposited with the 
treasurer of the United States and by him safely kept in his office 
until the same shall be otherwise disposed of, in pursuance of the 
provisions of this act; and the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby 
authorized to receive and cancel any United States coupon bonds, 
and to issue in lieu thereof registered bonds of like amount, bearing 
a like rate of interest, and having the same time to run; and the 
deposit of bonds shall be, by every association, increased as its 
capital may be paid up or increased, so that every association shall 
at all times have on deposit with the treasurer registered United 
States bonds to the amount of at least one third of its capital stock 
actually paid in. . . . 

******** 

Sec. 21, And be it further enacted. That upon the transfer 
and delivery of bonds to the treasurer, as provided in the fore- 
going section, the association making the same shall be entitled 
to receive from the comptroller of the currency circulating notes 
of different denominations, in blank, registered and counter- 

• This exception was designed to include the Bank of Commerce of New York. 
— Ed. 



1864] NATIONAL BANK ACT 477 

signed as hereinafter provided, equal in amount to ninety per 
centum of the current market value of the United States bonds 
so transferred and delivered, but not exceeding ninety per cen- 
tum of the amount of said bonds at the par value thereof, if bearing 
interest at a rate not less than five per centum per annum; ^ and 
at no time shall the total amount of such notes, issued to any such 
association, exceed the amount at such time actually paid in of its 
capital stock. 

Sec. 22. And be it further enacted, That the entire amount of 
notes for circulation to be issued under this act shall not exceed 
three hundred millions of dollars. . . . 

Sec. 23. And be it further enacted, That after any such asso- 
ciation shall have caused its promise to pay such notes on demand 
to be signed by the president or vice-president and cashier thereof, 
in such manner as to make them obHgatory promissory notes, 
payable on demand, at its place of business, such association is 
hereby authorized to issue and circulate the same as money; and 
the same shall be received at par in all parts of the United States 
in payment of taxes, excises, public lands, and all other dues to the 
United States, except for duties on imports; and also for all salaries 
and other debts and demands owing by the United States to in- 
dividuals, corporations, and associations within the United States, 
except interest on the public debt, and in redemption of the national 
currency. And no such association shall issue post notes or any 
other notes to circulate as money than such as are authorized by the 
foregoing provisions of this act.^ 

Sec. 26. And be it further enacted. That the bonds transferred 
to and deposited with the treasurer of the United States, as here- 
inbefore provided, by any banking association for the security 
of its circulating notes, shall be held exclusively for that purpose, 
until such notes shall be redeemed, except as provided in this 
act; but the comptroller of the currency shall give to any such 
banking association powers of attorney to receive and appropriate 
to its own use the interest on the bonds which it shall have so trans- 

' See act of March 3, 1865 (U. S. Slat, at Large, XIII., 498), relative to the 
allotment of circulation. — Ed. 

^ As to State taxation of national bank currency and United States notes, see 
act of August 13, 1894 (U. S. Stat, at Large, XXVIII., 278). — Ed. 



478 NATIONAL BANK ACT [June 3 

ferred to the treasurer; but such powers shall become inoperative 
whenever such banking association shall fail to redeem its circulat- 
ing notes as aforesaid. Whenever the market or cash value of 
any bonds deposited with the treasurer of the United States, as 
aforesaid, shall be reduced below the amount of the circulation 
issued for the same, the comptroller of the currency is hereby 
authorized to demand and receive the amount of such deprecia- 
tion in other United States bonds at cash value, or in money, from 
the association receiving said bills, to be deposited with the treasurer 
of the United States as long as such depreciation continues. . . . 

Sec. 29. And be it further enacted, That the total liabilities to 
any association, of any person, or of any company, corporation, 
or firm for money borrowed, including in the liabilities of a com- 
pany or firm the liabilities of the several members thereof, shall 
at no time exceed one tenth part of the amount of the capital 
stock of such association actually paid in: Provided, That the 
discount of bona fide bills of exchange drawn against actually 
existing values, and the discount of commercial or business paper 
actually owned by the person or persons, corporation, or firm 
negotiating the same shall not be considered as money borrowed. 

Sec. 30. And be it further enacted, That every association 
may take, receive, reserve, and charge on any loan or discount 
made, or upon any note, bill of exchange, or other evidences of 
debt, interest at the rate allowed by the laws of the state or ter- 
ritory where the bank is located, and no more. . . . And when no 
rate is fixed by the laws of the state or territory, the bank may take, 
receive, reserve, or charge a rate not exceeding seven per cen- 
tum. . . . 

Sec. 31. And be it further enacted. That every association in 
the cities hereinafter named shall, at all times, have on hand, in 
lawful money of the United States, an amount equal to at least 
twenty-five per centum of the aggregate amount of its notes in 
circulation and its deposits; and every other association shall, 
at all times, have on hand, in lawful money of the United States, 
an amount equal to at least fifteen per centum of the aggregate 
amount of its notes in circulation, and of its deposits. And 
whenever the lawful money of any association in any of the cities 
hereinafter named shall be below the amount of twenty-five per 



1864] NATIONAL BANK ACT 479 

centum of its circulation and deposits, and whenever the lawful 
money of any other association shall be below fifteen per centum 
of its circulation and deposits, such association shall not increase 
its liabilities by making any new loans or discounts otherwise 
than by discounting or purchasing bills of exchange payable at 
sight, nor make any dividend of its profits until the required pro- 
portion between the aggregate amount of its outstanding notes of 
circulation and deposits and its lawful money of the United States 
shall be restored: Provided, That three fifths of said fifteen per 
centum may consist of balances due to an association available 
for the redemption of its circulating notes from associations 
approved by the comptroller of the currency, organized under 
this act, in the cities of Saint Louis, Louisville, Chicago, Detroit, 
Milwaukee, New Orleans, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Pittsburg, 
Baltimore, Philadelphia, Boston, New York, Albany, Leaven- 
worth, San Francisco, and Washington City: ^ Provided, also, That 
clearing-house certificates, representing specie or lawful money 
specially deposited for the purpose of any clearing-house associa- 
tion, shall be deemed to be lawful money in the possession of any 
association belonging to such clearing-house holding and owning 
such certificate, and shall be considered to be a part of the lawful 
money which such association is required to have under the fore- 
going provisions of this section : Provided, That the cities of Charles- 
ton and Richmond may be added to the list of cities in the national 
associations of which other associations may keep three fifths of 
their lawful money, whenever, in the opinion of the comptroller of 
the currency, the condition of the southern states will warrant it. 
And it shall be competent for the comptroller of the currency to 
notify any association, whose lawful money reserve as aforesaid 
shall be below the amount to be kept on hand as aforesaid, to 
make good such reserve; and if such association shall fail for 
thirty days thereafter so to make good its reserve of lawful money 
of the United States, the comptroller may, with the concurrence 
of the Secretary of the Treasury, appoint a receiver to wind up the 
business of such association, as provided in this act. 

Sec. 32. And be it further enacted, That each association 
organized in any of the cities named in the foregoing section 

' See act of March 3, 1887, chap. 378 {U. S. Stat, at Large, XXIV.. 559, 560). 
— Ed. 



480 NATIONAL BANK ACT [June 3 

shall select, subject to the approval of the comptroller of the 
currency, an association in the city of New York, at which it 
will redeem its circulating notes at par. And each of such as- 
sociations may keep one half of its lawful money reserve in cash 
deposits in the city of New York. And each association not 
organized within the cities named in the preceding section shall 
select, subject to the approval of the comptroller of the currency, 
an association in either of the cities named in the preceding section 
at which it will redeem its circulating notes at par. . . . [Provided] 
. . , , That every association formed or existing under the pro- 
visions of this act shall take and receive at par, for any debt or 
liability to said association, any and all notes or bills issued by 
any association existing under and by virtue of this act. 

Sec. 36. And be ii further enacted, That no association shall 
at any time be indebted, or in any way liable, to an amount ex- 
ceeding the amount of its capital stock at such time actually 
paid in and remaining undiminished by losses or otherwise, except 
on the following accounts, that is to say : — ■ 

First. On account of its notes of circulation. 

Second. On account of moneys deposited with, or collected 
by, such association. 

Third. On account of bills of exchange or drafts drawn 
against money actually on deposit to the credit of such associa- 
tion, or due thereto. 

Fourth. On account of liabilities to its stockholders for divi- 
dends and reserved profits. 

Sec. 38. And he it further enacted, That no association, or any 
member thereof, shall, during the time it shall continue its bank- 
ing operations, withdraw, or permit to be withdrawn, either in 
form of dividends or otherwise, any portion of its capital. And 
if losses shall at any time have been sustained by any such asso- 
ciation equal to or exceeding its undivided profits then on hand, 
no dividend shall be made; and no dividend shall ever be made 
by any association, while it shall continue its banking operations, 
to an amount greater than its net profits then on hand, deduct- 
ing therefrom its losses and bad debts. . . . 



:864] NATIONAL BANK ACT 481 

Sec. 41. And be it further enacted, That the plates and special 
dies to be procured by the comptroller of the currency for the 
printing of such circulating notes shall remain under his control 
and direction, and the expenses necessarily incurred in execut- 
ing the provisions of this act respecting the procuring of such 
notes, and all other expenses of the bureau, shall be paid out of 
the proceeds of the taxes or duties now or hereafter to be assessed 
on the circulation, and collected from associations organized 
under this act. And in lieu of all existing taxes, every asso- 
ciation shall pay to the treasurer of the United States, in the 
months of January and July, a duty of one half of one per centum 
each half year from and after . . . [January i, 1864] . . . , 
upon the average amount of its notes in circulation, and a duty of 
one quarter of one per centum each half year upon the average 
amount of its deposits, and a duty of one quarter of one per centum 
each half year, as aforesaid, on the average amount of its capital 
stock beyond the amount invested in United States bonds; . . . 
Provided . . . , That nothing in this act shall exempt the real es- 
tate of associations from either state, county, or municipal taxes to 
the same extent, according to its value, as other real estate is taxed. 

Sec. 44. And be itjurther enacted, That any bank incorporated 
by special law, or any banking institution organized under a gen- 
eral law of any state, may, by authority of this act, become a 
national association under its provisions, by the name prescribed 
in its organization certificate. . . . Provided, however. That no 
such association shall have a less capital than the amount pre- 
scribed for banking associations under this act.^ 

Sec. 45. And be it further enacted, That all associations under 
this act, when designated for that purpose by the Secretary of 
the Treasury, shall be depositaries of public money, except re- 
ceipts from customs, under such regulations as may be prescribed 
by the Secretary; and they may also be employed as financial 
agents of the government ; and they shall perform all such reason- 
able duties, as depositaries of public moneys and financial agents 
of the government, as may be required of them. And the Secretary 
of the Treasury shall require of the associations thus designated 

' See act of February 14, 1880 (t/. S. Slat, at Large, XXL, 66i). — Ed. 
2 I 



482 PROCLAMATION REGARDING RECONSTRUCTION [July 8 

satisfactory security, by the deposit of United States bonds and 
otherwise, for the safe-keeping and prompt payment of the public 
money deposited with them, and for the faithful performance 
of their duties as financial agents of the government: Provided, 
That every association which shall be selected and designated as 
receiver or depositary of the public money shall take and receive 
at par all of the national currency bills, by whatever association 
issued, which have been paid in to the government for internal 
revenue, or for loans or stocks. 

******** 



No. 139. Proclamation regarding Recon- 
struction 

July 8, 1864 

December 15, 1863, on motion of Henry Winter Davis of Maryland, so 
much of Lincoln's message of December 8 as related "to the duty of the 
United States to guaranty a republican form of government to the States 
in which the governments recognized by the United States have been abro- 
gated or overthrown" was referred, by a vote of 91 to 80, to a select com- 
mittee of the House, with instructions to report bills to carry into execution 
the said guarantee. A bill was reported by the committee February 15, 1864, 
and passed the House May 4 by a vote of 74 to 66. July i the Senate, by a 
vote of 30 to 13, adopted a substitute, proposed by B. Gratz Brown of Mis- 
souri, declaring that when the inhabitants of any State had been declared in 
insurrection by proclamation under the act of July 13, 1861, they should be 
"incapable of casting any vote for electors of President or Vice President of 
the United States, or of electing Senators and Representatives in Congress, 
until said insurrection in said State is suppressed or abandoned and said in- 
habitants have returned to their obedience to the Government of the United 
States, nor until such return to obedience shall be declared by proclamation 
of the President, issued by virtue of an act of Congress, hereafter to be 
passed, authorizing the same." The House refused to concur, and July 2 
the Senate, by a vote of 18 to 14, receded, and the House bill passed. Lin- 
coln was opposed to the bill and withheld his approval, but immediately upon 
the adjournment of Congress issued the following proclamation with the bill 
attached. The bill was the first formal plan of reconstruction agreed upon 
by Congress. 

References. — Text in U. S. Statutes at Large, XIII., Appendix, xiv-xvii. 
For the proceedings see the House and Senate Journals, 3Sth Cong., ist Sess., 
and the Cong. Globe. 



1864] PROCLAMATION REGARDING RECONSTRUCTION 483 

(The proclamation recites the passage of the bill annexed, and its presenta- 
tion to the President "less than one hour before the sine die adjournment of 
said session," and continues:) 

And whereas the said bill contains, among other things, a plan 
for restoring the states in rebellion to their proper practical relation 
in the Union, which plan expresses the sense of congress upon that 
subject, and which plan it is now thought fit to lay before the 
people for their consideration : 

Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United 
States, do proclaim, declare, and make known, that, while I am 
(as I was in December last, when by proclamation I propounded 
a plan for restoration) unprepared by a formal approval of this 
bill, to be inflexibly committed to. any single plan of restoration ; 
and, while I am also unprepared to declare that the free state 
constitutions and governments already adopted and installed in 
Arkansas and Louisiana shall be set aside and held for nought, 
thereby repelling and discouraging the loyal citizens who have 
set up the same as to further effort, or to declare a constitutional 
competency in congress to abolish slavery in states, but am at 
the same time sincerely hoping and expecting that a constitu- 
tional amendment abolishing slavery throughout the nation may 
be adopted, nevertheless I am fully satisfied with the system for 
restoration contained in the bill as one very proper plan for the 
loyal people of any state choosing to adopt it, and that I am, and 
at all times shall be, prepared to give the executive aid and as- 
sistance to any such people, so soon as the military resistance to 
the United States shall have been suppressed in any such state, 
and the people thereof shall have sufficiently returned to their 
obedience to the constitution and the laws of the United States, 
in which cases military governors will be appointed, with directions 
to proceed according to the bill. 



A Bill to guarantee to certain States whose Governments have been usurped or 
overthrown a Republican Form of Government. 

Be it enacted . . ., That in the states declared in rebellion against the 
United States, the President shall, by and with the advice and consent of the 
Senate, appoint for each a provisional governor, . . . who shall be charged 
with the civil administration of such state until a state government therein 
shall be recognized as hereinafter provided. 



484 PROCLAMATION REGARDLMG RECONSTRUCTION Quly 8 

Sec. 2. A nd be it further enacted, That so soon as the military resistance to 
the United States shall have been suppressed in any such state, and the people 
thereof shall have sufficiently returned to their obedience to the constitution 
and the laws of the United States, the provisional governor shall direct the 
marshal of the United States, as speedily as may be, to name a sufficient 
number of deputies, and to enroll all white male citizens of the United States, 
resident in the state in their respective counties, and to request each one to 
take the oath to support the constitution of the United States, and in his 
enrolment to designate those who take and those who refuse to take that 
oath, which rolls shall be forthwith returned to the provisional governor; and 
if the persons taking that oath shall amount to a majority of the persons 
enrolled in the state, he shall, by proclamation, invite the loyal people of the 
state to elect delegates to a convention charged to declare the will of the 
people of the state relative to the reestablishment of a state government sub- 
ject to, and in conformity with, the constitution of the United States. 

Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That the convention shall consist of as 
many members as both houses of the last constitutional state legislature, ap- 
portioned by the provisional governor among the counties, parishes, or dis- 
tricts of the state, in proportion to the white population, returned as electors, 
by the marshal, in compliance with the provisions of this act. The provi- 
sional governor shall, by proclamation, declare the number of delegates to 
be elected by each county, parish, or election district; name a day of election 
not less than thirty days thereafter; designate the places of voting in each 
county, parish, or district, conforming as nearly as may be convenient to the 
places used in the state elections next preceding the rebellion; appoint one 
or more commissioners to hold the election at each place of voting, and pro- 
vide an adequate force to keep the peace during the election. 

Sec. 4. And be it further enacted. That the delegates shall be elected by 
the loyal white male citizens of the United States of the age of twenty-one 
years, and resident at the time in the county, parish, or district in which they 
shall offer to vote, and enrolled as aforesaid, or absent in the military service 
of the United States, and who shall take and subscribe the oath of allegiance 
to the United States in the form contained in the act of . . . [July 2, 1862] 
. . . ; and all such citizens of the United States who are in the military ser- 
vice of the United States shall vote at the headquarters of their respective 
commands, under such regulations as may be prescribed by the provisional 
governor for the taking and return of their votes; but no person who has 
held or exercised any office, civil or military, state or confederate, under the 
rebel usurpation, or who has voluntarily borne arms against the United 
States, shall vote, or be eligible to be elected as delegate, at such 
election. 

Sec. 5. A nd be it further enacted, That the said commissioners, or either of 
them, shall hold the election in conformity with this act and, so far as may be 
consistent therewith, shall proceed in the manner used in the state prior to the 
rebellion. The oath of allegiance shall be taken and subscribed on the poll- 
book by every voter in the form above prescribed, but every person known 
by, or proved to, the commissioners to have held or exercised any office, civil 
or military, state or confederate, under the rebel usurpation, or to have 



1864] PROCLAMATION REGARDING RECONSTRUCTION 485 

voluntarily borne arms against the United States, shall be excluded, though 
he offer to take the oath; and in case any person who shall have borne arms 
against the United States shall offer to vote he shall be deemed to have borne 
arms voluntarily unless he shall prove the contrary by the testimony of a 
qualified voter. The poll-book, showing the name and oath of each voter, 
shall be returned to the provisional govern, ^ by the commissioners of election 
or the one acting, and the provisional governor shall canvass such returns, 
and declare the person having the highest number of votes elected. 

Sec. 6. And be it further enacted, That the provisional governor shall, by 
proclamation, convene the delegates elected as aforesaid, at the capital of the 
state, on a day not more than three months after the election, giving at least 
thirty days' notice of such day. In case the said capital shall in his judgment 
be unfit, he shall in his proclamation appoint another place. He shall preside 
over the deliberations of the convention, and administer to each delegate, 
before taking his seat in the convention, the oath of allegiance to the United 
States in the form above prescribed. 

Sec. 7. And be it further enacted, That the convention shall declare, on 
behalf of the people of the state, their submission to the constitution and laws 
of the United States, and shall adopt the following provisions, hereby pre- 
scribed by the United States in the execution of the constitutional duty to 
guarantee a republican form of government to every state, and incorporate 
them in the constitution of the state, that is to say: 

First. No person who has held or exercised any office, civil or military, 
except offices merely ministerial, and military offices below the grade of colo- 
nel, state or confederate, under the usurping power, shall vote for or be a 
member of the legislature, or governor. 

Second. Involuntary servitude is forever prohibited, and the freedom of 
all persons is guaranteed in said state. 

Third. No debt, state or confederate, created by or under the sanction of 
the usurping power, shall be recognized or paid by the state. 

Sec. 8. And be it further enacted. That when the convention shall have 
adopted those provisions, it shall proceed to reestablish a republican form of 
government, and ordain a constitution containing those provisions, which, 
when adopted, the convention shall by ordinance provide for submitting to 
the people of the state, entitled to vote under this law, at an election to be 
held in the manner prescribed by the act for the election of delegates; but 
at a time and place named by the convention, at which election the said 
electors, and none others, shall vote directly for or against such constitution 
and form of state government, and the returns of said election shall be made 
to the provisional governor, who shall canvass the same in the presence of the 
electors, and if a majority of the votes cast shall be for the constitution and 
form of government, he shall certify the same, with a copy thereof, to the 
President of the United States, who, after obtaining the assent of congress, 
shall, by proclamation, recognize the government so established, and none 
other, as the constitutional government of the state, and from the date of 
such recognition, and not before. Senators and Representatives, and electors 
for President and Vice-President may be elected in such state, according to 
the laws of the state and of the United States. 



486 PROCLAMATION REGARDING RFXONSTRUCTION [July 8 

Sec. 9. And be it further enacted, That if the convention shall refuse to 
reestablish the state government on the conditions aforesaid, the provisional 
governor shall declare it dissolved; but it shall be the duty of the President, 
whenever he shall have reason to believe that a sufficient number of the 
people of the state entitled to vote under this act, in number not less than a 
majority of those enrolled, as aforesaid, are willing to reestablish a state gov- 
ernment on the conditions aforesaid, 1" direct the provisional governor to 
order another election of delegates to a convention for the purpose and in 
the manner prescribed in this act, and to proceed in all respects as herein- 
before provided, either to dissolve the convention, or to certify the state 
government reestablished by it to the President. 

Sec. 10. And be it further enacted, That, until the United States shall have 
recognized a republican form of state government, the provisional governor in 
each of said states shall see that this act, and the laws of the United States, 
and the laws of the state in force when the state government was overthrown 
by the rebellion, are faithfully executed within the state; but no law or usage 
whereby any person was heretofore held in involuntary servitude shall be 
recognized or enforced by any court or officer in such state, and the laws for 
the trial and punishment of white persons shall extend to all persons, and 
jurors shall have the qualifications of voters under this law for delegates to 
the convention. The President shall appoint such officers provided for by the 
laws of the state when its government was overthrown as he may find neces- 
sary to the civil administration of the state, all which officers shall be entitled 
to receive the fees and emoluments provided by the state laws for such officers. 

Sec. II. And be it further enacted. That until the recognition of a state 
government as aforesaid, the provisional governor shall, under such regula- 
tions as he may prescribe, cause to be assessed, levied, and collected, for the 
year eighteen hundred and sixty-four, and every year thereafter, the taxes 
provided by the laws of such state to be levied during the fiscal year preced- 
ing the overthrow of the state government thereof, in the manner prescribed 
by the laws of the state, as nearly as may be; and the officers appointed, as 
aforesaid, are vested with all powers of levying and collecting such taxes, by 
distress or sale, as were vested in any officers or tribunal of the state govern- 
ment aforesaid for those purposes. The proceeds of such taxes shall be 
accounted for to the provisional governor, and be by him applied to the ex- 
penses of the administration of the laws in such state, subject to the direction 
of the President, and the surplus shall be deposited in the treasury of the 
United States to the credit of such state, to be paid to the state upon an ap- 
propriation therefor, to be made when a republican form of government 
shall be recognized therein by the United States. 

Sec. 12. And be it further enacted, That all persons held to involuntary 
servitude or labor in the states aforesaid are hereby emancipated and dis- 
charged therefrom, and they and their posterity shall be forever free. And 
if any such persons or their posterity shall be restrained of liberty, under pre- 
tence of any claim to such service or labor, the courts of the United States 
shall, on habeas corpus, discharge them. 

Sec. 13. And he it further enacted. That if any person declared free by this 
act, or any law of the United States, or any proclamation of the President, be 



1864] ELECTORAL COUNT 487 

restrained of liberty, with intent to be held in or reduced to involuntary servi- 
tude or labor, the person convicted before a court of competent jurisdiction 
of such act shall be punished by fine of not less than fifteen hundred dollars, 
and be imprisoned not less than five nor more than twenty years. 

Sec. 14. And be it further enacted, That every person who shall hereafter 
hold or exercise any office, civil or military, except offices merely ministerial, 
and military offices below the grade of colonel, in the rebel service, state or 
confederate, is hereby declared not to be a citizen of the United States. 



No. 140. Electoral Count 



February 8, 1865 

A JOINT resolution declaring certain States not eligible to representation 
in the electoral college was presented in the House December 19, 1864, by 
Wilson of Iowa, and passed the House January 30, 1865. The resolution 
was reported in the Senate February i, with an amendment to the preamble. 
An amendment to strike out Louisiana from the list of States named was 
rejected, and on the 4th, by a vote of 29 to 10, the amended resolution passed 
the Senate. The House concurred in the Senate amendment. In his mes- 
sage of approval, February 8, Lincoln disclaimed "all right of the Executive 
to interfere in any way in the matter of canvassing or counting electoral 
votes," and further disclaimed "that by signing said resolution he has ex- 
pressed any opinion on the recitals of the preamble or any judgment of his 
own upon the subject of the resolution." 

References. — Text in U. S. Statutes at Large, XIII., 567, 568. For the 
proceedings see the House and Senate Journals, 38th Cong., 2d Sess., and the 
Cong. Globe. 

Joint Resolution declaring certain States not entitled to Representa- 
tion in the Electoral College. 

Whereas the inhabitants and local authorities of the States 
of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, 
Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, and Ten- 
nessee rebelled against the government of the United States, 
and were in such condition on . . . [November 8, 1864,] . . . 
that no valid election for electors of President and Vice-President 
of the United States, according to the constitution and laws thereof, 
was held therein on said day : Therefore, 

Be it resolved . . . , That the states mentioned in the preamble 



488 FREEDMEN'S BUREAU [March 3 

to this joint resolution are not entitled to representation in the 
electoral college for the choice of President and Vice-President 
of the United States, for the term of office commencing . . . 
[March 4, 1865] . . . ; and no electoral votes shall be received 
or counted from said states concerning the choice of President and 
Vice-President for said term of office. 



No. 141. Freedmen's Bureau 



March 3, 1865 

A BILL " to establish a bureau of emancipation " was reported in the House 
December 22, 1863, by Eliot of Massachusetts, from the Select Committee on 
Emancipation, and recommitted. The bill was reported with amendments 
January 13, 1864, and March i passed the House by a vote of 69 to 67. In 
the Senate the bill was referred to the Select Committee on Slavery and 
Freedmen, of which Sumner was chairman. A bill to establish a bureau of 
freedmen was reported from the committee April 12. May 25 the committee 
reported the House bill with a substitute amendment, and the bill thus 
amended passed the Senate June 29 by a vote of 21 to 9. The select com- 
mittee of the House recommended that the amendments of the Senate be 
disagreed to. Further action was postponed until December. December 20 
a conference committee was appointed. The report of the comrtjittee was 
accepted by the House February 9, 1865, by a vote of 64 to 62, 56 not vot- 
ing, but rejected by the Senate on the 2 2d by a vote of 14 to 24. March 3 
the report of a second conference committee was agreed to by both houses. 
An act of July 16, 1866, continued the act of 1865 in force until July 16, 
1868, and enlarged the scope of the bureau. 

References. — Text in U. S. Statutes at Large, XIII., 507-509. For the 
proceedings see the House and Senate Journals, 38th Cong., ist and 2d Sess., 
and the Cong. Globe. The supplementary act of 1866 is in MacDonald's 
Select Statutes, No. 51. On the work of the bureau see Senate Exec. Doc. 
28, 38th Cong., 2d Sess.; House Exec. Docs. 11, 70, and 120, 39th Cong., 
ist Sess.; House Exec. Doc. 7, 39th Cong., 2d Sess.; House Report 30, 40th 
Cong., 2d Sess.; House Exec. Doc. 329, ibid.; House Exec. Doc. 142, 41st 
Cong., 2d Sess.; House Misc. Doc. 87, 42d Cong., 3d Sess.; House Exec. 
Doc. 10, 43d Cong., ist Sess.; House Exec. Doc. 144, 44th Cong., ist Sess. 
On the condition of freedmen see Senate Exec. Doc. 53, and Senate Report 25, 
38th Cong., ist Sess. ; House Exec. Doc. 118, 39th Cong., ist Sess. Southern 
State legislation respecting freedmen is summarized in McPherson, Recon- 
struction, 29-44. 



1865] FREEDMEN'S BUREAU 489 

An Act to establish a Bureau for the Relief of Freedmen and 

Refugees. 

Be it enacted . . . , That there is hereby established in the 
War Department, to continue during the present war of rebel- 
lion, and for one year thereafter, a bureau of refugees, freed- 
men, and abandoned lands, to which shall be committed, as 
hereinafter provided, the supervision and management of all 
abandoned lands, and the control of all subjects relating to refu- 
gees and freedmen from rebel states, or from any district of 
country within the territory embraced in the operations of the 
army, under such rules and regulations as may be prescribed by 
the head of the bureau and approved by the President. The 
said bureau shall be under the management and control of a 
commissioner to be appointed by the President, by and with the 
advice and consent of the Senate. . . . 

Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That the Secretary of 
War may direct such issues of provisions, clothing, and fuel, as 
he may deem needful for the immediate and temporary shelter 
and supply of destitute and suffering refugees and freedmen 
and their wives and children, under such rules and regulations 
as he may direct. 

Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That the President may, 
by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, appoint an 
assistant commissioner for each of the states declared to be in 
insurrection, not exceeding ten in number, who shall, under the 
direction of the commissioner, aid in the execution of the provi- 
sions of this act ; . . . And any military officer may be detailed and 
assigned to duty under this act without increase of pay or allow- 
ances. . . . 

Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That the commissioner, 
under the direction of the President, shall have authority to set 
apart, for the use of loyal refugees and freedmen, such tracts of 
land within the insurrectionary states as shall have been aban- 
doned, or to which the United States shall have acquired title 
by confiscation or sale, or otherwise, and to every male citizen, 
whether refugee or freedman, as aforesaid, there shall be 
assigned not more than forty acres of such land, and the person 
to whom it was so assigned shall be protected in the use and 



490 FREEDOM FOR SOLDIERS' FAMILIES [March 3 

enjoyment of the land for the term of three years at an annual 
rent not exceeding six per centum upon the value of such land, 
as it was appraised by the state authorities in the year eighteen 
hundred and sixty, for the purpose of taxation, and in case no 
such appraisal can be found, then the rental shall be based upon 
the estimated value of the land in said year, to be ascertained 
in such manner as the commissioner may by regulation prescribe. 
At the end of said term, or at any time during said term, the occu- 
pants of any parcels so assigned may purchase the land and re- 
ceive such title thereto as the United States can convey, upon 
paying therefor the value of the land, as ascertained and fixed 
for the purpose of determining the annual rent aforesaid. 



No. 142. Freedom for Soldiers' Families 

March 3, 1865 

A BILL to secure the freedom of soldiers' families was introduced in the 
Senate December 13, 1864, by Wilson of Massachusetts, and passed that 
body January 9, 1865, notwithstanding strong opposition, by a vote of 27 to 
10. The vote in the House, February 22, on the passage of the bill was 74 
to 63, 45 not voting. 

References. — Text in U.S. .Statutes at Large, XIII., 571. For the pro- 
ceedings see the House and Senate Journals, 38th Cong., 2d Sess., and the 
Cong. Globe. The important debate was in the Senate. 

A Resolution to encourage Enlistments and to promote the Effi- 
ciency of the military Forces of the United States. 

Resolved . . . , That, for the purpose of encouraging enlistments 
and promoting the efficiency of the military and naval forces of 
the United States, it is hereby enacted that the wife and children, 
if any he have, of any person that has been, or may be, mustered 
into the military or naval service of the United States, shall, 
from and after the passage of this act, be forever free, any law, 
usage, or custom whatsoever to the contrary notwithstanding . . . 



1865J GOVERNOR FOR NORTH CAROLINA 491 

No. 143. Proclamation appointing a Gov- 
ernor for North Carolina 

May 29, 1865 

The appointment of military governors in the States lately in rebellion, 
and the reestabiishment of the State governments uncjer their direction, were 
steps of primary importance in the plan of executive reconstruction proposed 
by President Johnson. Appointments similar to that in North Carolina were 
proclaimed June 13, for Mississippi; June 17, for Georgia and Texas; June 
21, for Alabama; June 30, for South Carolina, and July 13, for Florida. An 
executive order of May 9 had declared the authority of the United States 
reestablished in Virginia, directed the various departinents of the national 
government to resume operations in that State, and promised federal aid to 
Governor Pierpont if necessary. 

References. — Text in U.S. Statutes at Large, XIII., 760, 761. On 
Johnson's theory of reconstruction in this connection, see his annual message 
of December 4, 1865. 

Whereas the fourth section of the fourth article of the Con- 
stitution of the United States declares that the United States 
shall guarantee to every state in the Union a republican form of 
government, and shall protect each of them against invasion and 
domestic violence; and whereas the President of the United 
States is, by the constitution, made commander-in-chief of the 
army and navy, as well as chief civil executive officer of the 
United States, and is bound by solemn oath faithfully to execute 
the office of President of the United States, and to take care 
that 'the laws be faithfully executed; and whereas the rebellion, 
which has been waged by a portion of the people of the United 
States against the properly constituted authorities of the govern- 
ment thereof, in the most violent and revolting form, but whose 
organized and armed forces have now been almost entirely over- 
come, has, in its revolutionary progress, deprived the people of 
the State of North Carolina of all civil government; and where- 
as it becomes necessary and proper to carry out and enforce 
the obligations of the United States to the people of North Caro- 
lina, in securing them in the enjoyment of a republican form of 
government : 

Now, therefore, in obedience to the high and solemn duties 



492 GOVERNOR FOR NORTH CAROLINA [May 29 

imposed upon me by the Constitution of the United States, and 
for the purpose of enabling the loyal people of said state to or- 
ganize a state government, whereby justice may be established, 
domestic tranquillity insured, and loyal citizens protected in all 
their rights of life, liberty, and property, I, ANDREW JOHN- 
SON, President of the United States, and commander-in-chief of 
the army and navy of the United States, do hereby appoint William 
W. Holden provisional governor of the State of North Carolina, 
whose duty it shall be, at the earliest practicable period, to 
prescribe such rules and regulations as may be necessary and 
proper for convening a convention, composed of delegates to be 
chosen by that portion of the people of said state who are loyal 
to the United States, and no others, for the purpose of altering 
or amending the constitution thereof; and with authority to 
exercise, within the limits of said state, all the powers necessary 
and proper to enable such loyal people of the State of North 
Carolina to restore said state to its constitutional relations to the 
federal government, and to present such a republican form of 
state government as will entitle the state to the guarantee of the 
United States therefor, and its people to protection by the 
United States against invasion, insurrection, and domestic vio- 
lence; Provided that, in any election that may be hereafter held 
for choosing delegates to any state convention as aforesaid, no 
person shall be qualified as an elector, or shall be eligible as 
a member of such convention, unless he shall have previously 
taken and subscribed the oath of amnesty, as set forth in the 
President's Proclamation of May 29, A.D. 1865, and is a voter 
qualified as prescribed by the constitution and laws of the State 
of North Carolina in force immediately before the 20th day of 
May, A.D. 1861, the date of the so-called ordinance of secession; 
and the said convention, when convened, or the legislature that 
may be thereafter assembled, will prescribe the qualification of 
electors, and the eligibility of persons to hold office under the 
constitution and laws of the state, — a power the people of the 
several states composing the Federal Union have rightfully exer- 
cised from the origin of the government to the present time. 

And I do hereby direct — 

First. That the military commander of the department, and 
all officers and persons in the military or naval service, aid and 



1865] GOVERNOR FOR NORTH CAROLINA 493 

assist the said provisional governor in carrying into efifect this 
Proclamation, and they be enjoined to abstain from, in any way, 
hindering, impeding, or discouraging the loyal people from the 
organization of a state government as herein authorized. 

Second. That the Secretary of State proceed to put in force 
all laws of the United States, the administration whereof belongs 
to the State Department, applicable to the geographical limits 
aforesaid. 

Third. That the Secretary of the Treasury proceed to nomi- 
nate for appointment assessors of taxes, and collectors of customs 
and internal revenue, and such other officers of the Treasury 
Department as are authorized by law, and put in execution the 
revenue laws of the United States within the geographical limits 
aforesaid. In making appointments, the preference shall be 
given to qualified loyal persons residing within the districts 
where their respective duties are to be performed. But if suit- 
able residents of the districts shall not be found, then persons 
residing in other states or districts shall be appointed. 

Fourth. That the Postmaster-General proceed to establish 
post-offices and post-routes, and put into execution the postal 
laws of the United States within the said state, giving to loyal 
residents the preference of appointment; but if suitable resi- 
dents are not found, then to appoint agents, &c., from other 
states. 

Fifth. That the district judge for the judicial district in which 
North Carolina is included proceed to hold courts within said 
state, in accordance with the provisions of the act of congress. 
The Attorney-General will instruct the proper officers to libel, 
and bring to judgment, confiscation, and sale, property subject 
to confiscation, and enforce the administration of justice within 
said state in all matters within the cognizance and jurisdiction 
of the federal courts. 

Sixth. That the Secretary of the Navy take possession of all 
public property belonging to the Navy Department within said 
geographical limits, and put in operation all acts of congress in 
relation to naval affairs having application to the said state. 

Seventh. That the Secretary of the Interior put in force the 
laws relating to the Interior Department applicable to the geo- 
graphical limits aforesaid. 



494 FIRST CIVIL RIGHTS ACT [April 9 



No. 144. Thirteenth Amendment 

December 18, 1865 

January ii, 1864, John B. Henderson of Missouri offered in the Senate a 
joint resolution for an amendment to the Constitution providing that "slavery 
or involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime, shall not exist in 
the United States." February 8 Sumner proposed an amendment declaring 
that "everywhere within the limits of the United States, and of each State or 
Territory thereof, all persons are equal before the law, so that no person can 
hold another as a slave." Both of these resolutions were referred to the Com- 
mittee on the Judiciary, which reported, February 10, a r^olution proposing 
an amendment in the terms of the thirteenth amendment subsequently ratified. 
On the 15th the House, by a vote of 78 to 62, resolved in favor of an amend- 
ment abolishing slavery. The joint resolution passed the Senate April 8, by 
a vote of 38 to 6. The resolution was not taken up in the House until May 31, 
and June 15, by a vote of 95 to 66 (less than the required two-thirds), was 
rejected. January 31, 1865, the vote was reconsidered and the resolution 
passed, the vote being 121 to 24, 37 not voting. The ratification of the 
amendment by twenty-seven States was proclaimed December 18, 1865. 

References. — Text in Revised Statutes of the United States (ed. 1878), 
30. For the proceedings in Congress see the House and Senate Journals, 
38th Cong., ist and 2d Sess., and the Cong. Globe. The principal proposi- 
tions submitted are collected in McPherson, Rebellion, 255-259. On the 
scope of the amendment see Slaughter House Cases, 16 Wallace, 36. 

Article XIII. 

Sec. I. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, save as 
a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly 
convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place 
subject to their jurisdiction. 

Sec. 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by 
appropriate legislation. 



No. 145. First Civil Rights Act 

April 9, 1866 

A BiLi, "to protect all persons in the United States in their civil rights and 
furnish the means of their vindication " was introduced in the Senate January 
5, 1866, by Lyman Trumbull of Illinois, and referred to the Committee on 
Judiciary. .Amendments reported by the committee were agreed to on the 



i866] FIRST CIVIL RIGHTS ACT 495 

1 2th. February i an amendment submitted by Trumbull, regarding the 
citizenship of persons born in the United States, being the first part of sec- 
tion I of the act, was agreed to by a vote of 31 to 10, but the following day 
an amendment striking out the provision for the employment of military force 
was rejected, the vote being 12 to 24. The bill passed the Senate February 2, 
and the House, with further amendments, March 13, the vote in the House 
being in to 38, 34 not voting. The Senate agreed to the House amend- 
ments. March 27 President Johnson vetoed the bill. The bill was passed 
over the veto by the Senate, after a long discussion, April 6, by a vote of ^;} to 
15, and by the House April g, by a vote of 132 to 41, 21 not voting. 

References. — Text in U.S. Statutes at Large, XIV., 27-29. For the 
proceedings see the House and Senate Journals, 39th Cong., ist Sess., and the 
Cong. Globe. The text of the Senate bill as reported by the committee is in 
the Globe for January 1 2. The veto message is in the Globe and the Journals. 
For a report of February 19, 1867, on violations of the act, see Senate Exec. 
Doc. 29, 39th Cong., 2d Sess.; for State laws relating to freedmen see Senate 
Exec. Doc. 6, ibid. 

An Ad to protect all Persons in the United States in their Civil 
Rights, and furnish the Means of their Vindication. 

Be it enacted . . . , That all persons born in the United States 
and not subject to any foreign power, excluding Indians not taxed, 
are hereby declared to be citizens of the United States; and 
such citizens, of every race and color, without regard to any 
previous condition of slavery or involuntary servitude, except as 
a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly 
convicted, shall have the same right, in every State and Terri- 
tory in the United States, to make and enforce contracts, to sue, 
be parties, and give evidence, to inherit, purchase, lease, sell, 
hold, and convey real and personal property, and to full and 
equal benefit of all laws and proceedings for the security of per- 
son and property, as is enjoyed by white citizens, and shall be 
subject to like punishment, pains, and penalties, and to none 
other,' any law, statute, ordinance, regulation, or custom, to the 
contrary notwithstanding. 

Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That any person who, 
under color of any law, statute, ordinance, regulation, or custom, 
shall subject, or cause to be subjected, any inhabitant of any 
State or Territory to the deprivation of any right secured -or 
protected by this act, or to different punishment, pains, or penal- 
ties on account of such person having at any time been held in a 
condition of slavery or involuntary servitude, except as a punish- 



496 FIRST CIVIL RIGHTS ACT [April 9 

ment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, 
or by reason of his color or race, than is prescribed for the 
punishment of white persons, shall be deemed guilty of a mis- 
demeanor, and, on conviction, shall be punished by fine not 
exceeding one thousand dollars, or imprisonment not exceeding 
one year, or both, in the discretion of the court. 

Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That the district courts of 
the United States, within their respective districts, shall have, 
exclusively of the courts of the several States, cognizance of all 
crimes and offences committed against the provisions of this act, 
and also, concurrently with the circuit courts of the United 
States, of all causes, civil and criminal, affecting persons who are 
denied or cannot enforce in the courts or judicial tribunals of 
the State or locality where they may be any of the rights secured 
to them by the first section of this act. . . . The jurisdiction in 
civil and criminal matters hereby conferred on the district and 
circuit courts of the United States shall be exercised and enforced 
in conformity with the laws of the United States, so far as such 
laws are suitable to carry the same into effect; but in all cases 
where such laws are not adapted to the object, or are deficient 
in the provisions necessary to furnish suitable remedies and 
punish offences against law, the common law, as modified and 
changed by the constitution and statutes of the State wherein 
the court having jurisdiction of the cause, civil or criminal, is 
held, so far as the same is not inconsistent with the Constitution 
and laws of the United States, shall be extended to and govern 
said courts in the trial and disposition of such cause, and, if of 
a criminal nature, in the infliction of punishment on the party 
found guilty. 

Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That the district attor- 
neys, marshals, and deputy marshals of the United States, the 
commissioners appointed by the circuit and territorial courts 
of the United States, with powers of arresting, imprisoning, or 
bailing offenders against the laws of the United States, the 
officers and agents of the Freedmen's Bureau, and every other 
officer who may be specially empowered by the President of 
the United States, shall be, and they are hereby, specially 
authorized and required, at the expense of the United States, to 
institute proceedings against all and every person who shall 



i866] FIRST CIVIL RIGHTS ACT 497 

violate the provisions of this act, and cause him or them to be 
arrested and imprisoned, or bailed, as the case may be, for trial 
before such court of the United States or territorial court as by 
this act has cognizance of the oEfence. And with a view to 
affording reasonable protection to all persons in their constitu- 
tional rights of equality before the law, without distinction of 
race or color, or previous condition of slavery or involuntary 
servitude, except as a punishment for crime, whereof the party 
shall have been duly convicted, and to the prompt discharge of 
the duties of this act, it shall be the duty of the circuit courts of 
the United States and the superior courts of the Territories 
of the United States, from time to time, to increase the number 
of commissioners, so as to aflford a speedy and convenient means 
for the arrest and examination of persons charged with a viola- 
tion of this act . . . 

Sec. 8. And be it further enacted, That whenever the Presi- 
dent of the United States shall have reason to believe that 
offences have been or are likely to be committed against the 
provisions of this act within any judicial district, it shall be law- 
ful for him, in his discretion, to direct the judge, marshal, and 
district attorney of such district to attend at such place within 
the district, and for such time as he may designate, for the pur- 
pose of the more speedy arrest and trial of persons charged 
with a violation of this act ; and it shall be the duty of every 
judge or other officer, when any such requisition shall be re- 
ceived by him, to attend at the place and for the time therein 
designated. 

Sec. 9. And he it further enacted, That it shall be lawful for 
the President of the United States, or such person as he may 
empower for that purpose, to employ such part of the land or 
naval forces of the United States, or of the militia, as shall be 
necessary to prevent the violation and enforce the due execution 
of this act. 

Sec. 10. And be it further enacted, That upon all questions of 
law arising in any cause under the provisions of this act a final 
appeal may be taken to the Supreme Court of the United States. 



2K 



498 RESTORATION OF TENNESSEE [July 24 



No. 146. Restoration of Tennessee 

July 24, 1866 

A BILL to restore Tennessee, accompanied by certain testimony and other 
papers, was reported in the House March 5, 1866, by Bingham of Ohio, from 
the Joint Select Committee on Reconstruction, and recommitted. It was 
taken up July 19, and agreed to on the 20th, the vote on the preamble being 
86 to 48, 48 not voting, and on the resolution 126 to 12, 45 not voting. In the 
Senate an amendment proposed by Sumner, providing that there should be 
no denial of equal legal rights on account of race or color, was rejected, 4 to 
34, and an amended preamble agreed to, the latter vote being 23 to 20. The 
amendments to the resolution were agreed to by the House July 23, without 
a division, and the amendment to the preamble by a vote of 93 to 26, 62 not 
voting. 

References. — Text in U.S. Statutes at Large, XIV., 364. For the pro- 
ceedings see the House and Senate Journals, 39th Cong., ist Sess., and the 
Cong. Globe. The majority and minority reports of March 5 and 6 are 
House Reports 29 and 30. In the history of the act the evolution of fhe pre- 
amble is particularly important. 

Joint Resolution restoring Tennessee to her Relations to the Union. 

Whereas, in the year eighteen hundred and sixty-one, the 
government of the State of Tennessee was seized upon and taken 
possession of by persons in hostility to the United States, and 
the inhabitants of said State in pursuance of an act of Congress 
were declared to be in a state of insurrection against the United 
States; and whereas said State government can only be restored 
to its former political relations in the Union by the consent of 
the law-making power of the United States; and whereas the 
people of said State did, on . . . [February 22, 1865] . . . , by 
a large popular vote, adopt and ratify a constitution of govern- 
ment whereby slavery was abolished, and all ordinances and laws 
of secession and debts contracted under the same were declared 
void; and whereas a State government has been organized under 
said constitution which has ratified the amendment to the Con- 
stitution of the United States abolishing slavery, also the amend- 
ment proposed by the thirty-ninth Congress, and has done other 
acts proclaiming and denoting loyalty; Therefore, 

Be it resolved . . . , That the State of Tennessee is hereby 
restored to her former proper, practical relations to the Union, 



i866] FRANCHISE IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA 499 

and is again entitled to be represented by senators and repre- 
sentatives in Congress. 



No. 147. Franchise in the District of 
Columbia 

January 8, 1867 

A BILL to regulate the elective franchise in the District of Columbia was 
introduced in the Senate December 4, 1865, by Wade of Ohio, and reported 
with amendments on the 20th. January 10, 1866, the bill was recommitted, 
and on the 12th again reported with an amendment. It was not taken up 
until June 28, when further consideration was postponed until December. 
The bill was taken up December 10, and on the 13th passed the Senate, the 
vote being 32 to 13. On the 14th the bill passed the House by a vote of 127 
to 46, 18 not voting. January 7, 1867, President Johnson vetoed the bill. 
The bill was passed over the veto by the Senate on the 7th, by a vote of 29 to 
10, and by the House on the 8th, by a vote of 112 to 38, 41 not voting. 

References. — Text in U.S. Statutes at Large, XIV., 375, 376. For the 
proceedings see the House and Senate Journals, 39th Cong., 2d Sess., and the 
Cong. Globe. A minority report in the House, December 19, 1865, is House 
Report 2, 39th Cong., ist Sess. 

AN ACT to regulate the elective franchise in the District of 

Columbia. 

Be it enacted . . . , That, from and after the passage of this 
act, each and every male person, excepting paupers and persons 
under guardianship, of the age of twenty-one years and upwards, 
who has not been convicted of any infamous crime or offence, 
and excepting persons who may have voluntarily given aid and 
comfort to the rebels in the late rebellion, and who shall have 
been born or naturalized in the United States, and who shall 
have resided in the said District for the period of one year, and 
three months in the ward or election precinct in which he shall 
offer to vote next preceding any election therein, shall be en- 
titled to the elective franchise, and shall be deemed an elector 
and entitled to vote at any election in said District, without any 

distinction on account of color or race. 

******** 



500 FIRST RECONSTRUCTION ACT [March i 

No. 148. Elective Franchise in the Terri- 
tories 

January 31, 1867 

A BILL to amend the organic acts of the several Territories was introduced 
in the House April 24, 1866, by James M. Ashley of Ohio, and referred to 
the Committee on Territories. The bill was reported without amendment on 
the 26th, recommitted, and again reported May 3. A substitute offered by 
Ashley May 15, the ninth section of which prohibited the denial of the elective 
franchise on account of race or color, was agreed to by a vote of 79 to 43, 6i 
not voting, a motion to strike out the ninth section being defeated by a vote 
of 36 to 76, 72 not voting. The bill was reported with amendments in the 
Senate May 31, but went over until the next session. January 10, 1867, 
a substitute in the words of the act following, offered by Wade of Ohio, was 
agreed to. The Senate amendment was accepted by the House by a vote of 
104 to 38, 49 not voting. The bill became a law without the President's 
approval. 

References. — Text in U.S. Statutes at Large, XIV., 379. For the pro- 
ceedings see the House and Senate Journals, 39th Cong., ist and 2d Sess., 
and the Cong. Globe. An abstract of the House bill of May 3 is in the Globe 
for that date; Ashley's substitute, ibid., May 15. 

Aji Act to regulate the elective Franchise in the Territories of the 
United States. 

Be it enacted . . ., That from and after the passage of this act, 
there shall be no denial of the elective franchise in any of the 
Territories of the United States, now, or hereafter to be organ- 
ized, to any citizen thereof, on account of race, color, or pre- 
vious condition of servitude ; and all acts or parts of acts, either 
of Congress or the Legislative Assemblies of said Territories, 
inconsistent with the provisions of this act are hereby declared 
null and void. 



No. 149. First Reconstruction Act 

March 2, 1867 

The question of the restoration of the insurrectionary States to a place in 
the Union early engaged the attention of Congress, and many resolutions 
setting forth the opinions of their framers as to the way in which such resto- 
ration should be brought about, were submitted. A concurrent resolution 



1867] FIRST RECONSTRUCTION ACT 501 

of March 2, 1866, declared "that, in order to close agitation upon a question 
which seems likely to disturb the action of the government, as well as to quiet 
the uncertainty which is agitating the minds of the people of the eleven 
States which have been declared to be in rebellion, no senator or representa- 
tive shall be admitted into either branch of Congress from any of said States 
until Congress shall have declared such State entitled to such representation." 
The majority report of the Joint Committee on Reconstruction was submitted 
June 18, 1866, and the minority report four days later. A bill to reconstruct 
North Carolina was introduced by Thaddeus Stevens December 13. Febru- 
ary 6, 1867, however, Stevens reported from the joint committee a general 
reconstruction bill. On the 13th a substitute offered by Stevens was agreed 
to, and the bill passed the House, the vote being 109 to 55, 26 not voting. 
An amendment submitted by James G. Blaine of Maine, providing that when 
Congress should have approved the Constitution of any State conferring 
suffrage in accordance with the Fourteenth Amendment, the other sections 
of the bill should become inoperative, was rejected. In the meantime the 
Fourteenth Amendment had been rejected by all the seceding States except 
Tennessee. The Blaine amendment, offered by Sherman in the Senate, 
was accepted by that house, and the amended bill passed, February 16, by 
a vote of 29 to 10. On the 19th the House, by a vote of 73 to 98, refused 
to concur, but the next day receded from its disagreement, and concurred 
in the amendments of the Senate, with the addition of amendments embrac- 
ing section 6 and the proviso of section 5 of the act as passed. The bill was 
vetoed by President Johnson March 2, but was promptly passed over the 
veto the same day, the vote in the House being 138 to 51, 3 not voting, 
and in the Senate 35 to 11. An act of January 22 had provided "for the 
meeting of the fortieth and all succeeding Congresses immediately after the 
adjournment of the preceding Congress," while another act of February 21 
directed the clerk of the House to include in the roll of representatives for 
the next Congress members from those States only which had been repre- 
sented in the preceding Congress. A joint resolution of March 30 appro- 
priated $500,000 for the expenses of executing the various reconstruction acts. 
References. — Text in U.S. Statutes at Large, XIV., 428, 429. For the 
proceedings see the House and Senate Journals, 39th Cong., 2d Sess., and the 
Cong. Globe. The bill reported February 6 is the same as the act as passed, 
except the fifth and sixth sections, which were added as amendments. For 
the texts of the more important resolutions on reconstruction, with the action 
upon them, see McPherson, Reconstruction, 109-114, 183-187. Johnson's 
message of July 20, 1867, transmitting a report of a cabinet meeting, is in 
Richardson, Messages and Papers of the Presidents, VI., 527-531. The docu- 
mentary literature is extensive. The report of the Joint Committee on Recon- 
struction is House Report 30, 39th Cong., ist Sess. On the early disturb- 
ances in the South see House Exec. Doc. 96 and House Report loi, 39th Cong., 
1st Sess.; House Exec. Docs. 61, 68, and 72 and House Report 16, 39th Cong., 
2d Sess. The most important orders, etc., relating to military reconstruction, 
are in Senate Exec. Doc. 14, 40th Cong., ist Sess. ; see also Senate Exec. Doc. 
14, and Senate Report 14, 38th Cong., ist Sess.; Plouse Report 23, 39th Cong., 



502 FIRST RECONSTRUCTION ACT [March 2 

2d Sess.; House Exec. Doc. 342, 40th Cong., 2d Sess. The State constitu- 
tions of the reconstruction period are in Poore, Charters and Constitutions. 
On political conditions see House Exec. Doc. 131, Senate Exec. Doc. 43, Sen- 
ate Misc. Doc. 62, and Senate Report 112, 39th Cong., ist Sess.; House Exec. 
Docs. 20 and 34 and House Misc. Docs. 29 and 53, 40th Cong., ist Sess.; 
House Exec. Docs. 53 and 276 and Senate Exec. Doc. 53, 40th Cong., 2d Sess. ; 
Senate Exec. Doc. 13, 41st Cong., 2d Sess. On the constitutional ques- 
tion see particularly Mississippi v. Johnson, 4 Wallace, 475; Georgia v. 
Stanton, 6 ibid., 51; Texas v. White, 7 ibid., 200. 

An Act to provide for the more efficient Government of the Rebel 

States. 

Whereas no legal State governments or adequate protection 
for life or property now exists in the rebel States of Virginia, 
North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama, 
Louisiana, Horida, Texas, and Arkansas; and whereas it is 
necessary that peace and good order should be enforced in said 
States until loyal and republican State governments can be 
legally established: Therefore, 

Be it enacted . . . , That said rebel States shall be divided 
into military districts and made subject to the military author- 
ity of the United States as hereinafter prescribed, and for that 
purpose Virginia shall constitute the first district; North Caro- 
lina and South Carolina the second district; Georgia, Alabama, 
and Florida the third district; Mississippi and Arkansas the 
fourth district ; and Louisiana and Texas the fifth district. 

Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of 
the President to assign to the command of each of said districts 
an officer of the army, not below the rank of brigadier-general, 
and to detail a sufficient military force to enable such officer to 
perform his duties and enforce his authority within the district 
to which he is assigned. 

Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty 
of each officer assigned as aforesaid, to protect all persons in 
their rights of person and property, to suppress insurrection, 
disorder, and violence, and to punish, or cause to be punished, 
all disturbers of the public peace and criminals; and to this 
end he may allow local civil tribunals to take jurisdiction of 
and to try offenders, or, when in his judgment it may be 
necessary for the trial of offenders, he shall have power to 



1867] FIRST RECONSTRUCTION ACT 503 

organize military commissions or tribunals for that purpose, 
and all interference under color of State authority with the 
exercise of military authority under this act, shall be null and 
void. 

Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That all persons put under 
military arrest by virtue of this act shall be tried without un- 
necessary delay, and no cruel or unusual punishment shall be 
inflicted, and no sentence of any military commission or tribu- 
nal hereby authorized, affecting the life or liberty of any person, 
shall be executed until it is approved by the officer in command 
of the district, and the laws and regulations for the government 
of the army shall not be affected by this act, except in so far as 
they conflict with its provisions: Provided, That no sentence 
of death under the provisions of this act shall be carried into 
effect without the approval of the President. 

Sec. 5. And he it further enacted, That when the people of 
any one of said rebel States shall have formed a constitution of 
government in conformity with the Constitution of the United 
States in all respects, framed by a convention of delegates 
elected by the male citizens of said State, twenty-one years old 
and upward, of whatever race, color, or previous condition, who 
have been resident in said State for one year previous to the 
day of such election, except such as may be disfranchised for 
participation in the rebellion or for felony at common law, and 
when such constitution shall provide that the elective franchise 
shall be enjoyed by all such persons as have the qualifications 
herein stated for electors of delegates, and when such constitu- 
tion shall be ratified by a majority of the persons voting on the 
question of ratification who are qualified as electors for delegates, 
and when such constitution shall have been submitted to Con- 
gress for examination and approval, and Congress shall have 
approved the same, and when said State, by a vote of its legis- 
lature elected under said constitution, shall have adopted the 
amendment to the Constitution of the United States, proposed 
by the Thirty-ninth Congress, and known as article fourteen, 
and when said article shall have become a part of the Consti- 
tution of the United States said State shall be declared entitled 
to representation in Congress, and senators and representatives 
shall be admitted therefrom on their taking the oath prescribed 



504 TENURE OF OFFICE ACT [March 2 

by law, and then and thereafter the preceding sections of this 
act shall be inoperative in said State: Provided, That no person 
excluded from the privilege of holding office by said proposed 
amendment to the Constitution of the United States, shall be 
eligible to election as a member of the convention to frame a 
constitution for any of said rebel States, nor shall any such 
person vote for members of such convention. 

Sec. 6. And he it further enacted, That, until the people of 
said rebel States shall be by law admitted to representation in 
the Congress of the United States, any civil governments which 
may exist therein shall be deemed provisional only, and in all 
respects subject to the paramount authority of the United States 
at any time to abolish, modify, control, or supersede the same; 
and in all elections to any office under such provisional govern- 
ments all persons shall be entitled to vote, and none others, 
who are entitled to vote, under the provisions of the fifth sec- 
tion of this act; and no persons shall be eligible to any office 
under any such provisional governments who would be dis- 
qualified from holding office under the provisions of the third 
article of said constitutional amendment. 



No. 150. Tenure of Office Act 

March 2, 1867 

A BILL "to regulate the tenure of offices" was introduced in the Senate 
December 3, 1866, the first day of the session, by George H. Williams of 
Oregon, and referred to the Joint Select Committee on Retrenchment. On 
the loth a substitute amendment was reported by George F. Edmunds of Ver- 
mont, who also offered the next day a further amendment, being the last five 
sections of the act. The amended bill passed the Senate on the i8th by a 
vote of 29 to 9, 14 not voting. The House, by a vote of 82 to 63, 46 not vot- 
ing, added an amendment striking out the clause excepting cabinet officers 
from the operation of the act, the vote on the passage of the amended bill 
being in to 38, 42 not voting. The Senate refused to concur, but the insist- 
ence of the House on its principal amendment forced the Senate to agree to 
the compromise contained in the first section of the act. The report of the 
conference committee was accepted by the Senate February 18, by a vote of 
22 to 10, and by the House the following day by a vote of 112 to 41, 37 not 
voting. March 2 the bill was vetoed by President Johnson, but was passed 
over the veto the same day, the vote in the Senate being 35 to 11, 6 not vot- 



1867] TENURE OF OFFICE ACT 505 

ing, and in the House 138 to 51, 3 not voting. Sections i and 2 of the 
act were repealed by an act of April 5, 1869, and the remainder by an act of 
March 3, 1887. 

References. — Text in U.S. Statutes at Large, XIV., 430-432. For the 
proceedings see the House and Senate Journals, 39th Cong., 2d Sess., and the 
Cong. Globe. See also Senate Exec. Doc. 9, 40th Cong., Special Sess. 

An Act regulating the Tenure of certain Civil Offices. 

Be it enacted . . . , That every person holding any civil 
office to which he has been appointed by and with the advice 
and consent of the Senate, and every person who shall here- 
after be appointed to any such office, and shall become duly 
qualified to act therein, is, and shall be entitled to hold such 
office until a successor shall have been in like manner appointed 
and duly qualified, except as herein otherwise provided: Pro- 
vided, That the Secretaries of State, of the Treasury, of War, 
of the Navy, and of the Interior, the Postmaster- General, and 
the Attorney- General, shall hold their offices respectively for 
and during the term of the President by whom they may have 
been appointed and for one month thereafter, subject to removal 
by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. 

Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That when any officer 
appointed as aforesaid, excepting judges of the United States 
courts, shall, during a recess of the Senate, be shown, by evi- 
dence satisfactory to the President, to be guilty of misconduct 
in office, or crime, or for any reason shall become incapable or 
legally disqualified to perform its duties, in such case, and in 
no other, the President may suspend such officer and designate 
some suitable person to perform temporarily the duties of such 
office until the next meeting of the Senate, and until the case 
shall be acted upon by the Senate . . . ; and in such case it 
shall be the duty of the President, within twenty days after the 
first day of such next meeting of the Senate, to report to the 
Senate such suspension, with the evidence and reasons for his 
action in the case, and the name of the person so designated to 
perform the duties of such office. And if the Senate shall 
concur in such suspension and advise and consent to the 
removal of such officer, they shall so certify to the President, 
who may thereupon remove such officer, and, by and with the 
advice and consent of the Senate, appoint another person to such 



5O0 TENURE OF OFFICE ACT [March 2 

office. But if the Senate shall refuse to concur in such sus- 
pension, such officer so suspended shall forthwith resume the 
functions of his office, and the powers of the person so perform- 
ing its duties in his stead shall cease, and the official salary and 
emoluments of such officer shall, during such suspension, belong 
to the person so performing the duties thereof, and not to the 
officer so suspended. . . . 

Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That the President shall 
have power to fill all vacancies which may happen during the 
recess of the Senate, by reason of death or resignation, by grant- 
ing commissions which shall expire at the end of their next ses- 
sion thereafter. And if no appointment, by and with the advice 
and consent of the Senate, shall be made to such office so vacant 
or temporarily filled as aforesaid during such next session of the 
Senate, such office shall remain in abeyance, without any salary, 
fees, or emoluments attached thereto, until the same shall be 
filled by appointment thereto, by and with the advice and con- 
sent of the Senate; and during such time all the powers and 
duties belonging to such office shall be exercised by such other 
officer as may by law exercise such powers and duties in case 
of a vacancy in such office. 

Sec. 4. And he it further enacted, That nothing in this act 
contained shall be construed to extend the term of any office 
the duration of which is limited by law. 

Sec. 5. And be it further enacted. That if any person shall, 
contrary to the provisions of this act, accept any appointment 
to or employment in any office, or shall hold or exercise or at- 
tempt to hold or exercise, any such office or employment, he 
shall be deemed, and is hereby declared to be, guilty of a high 
misdemeanor, and, upon trial and conviction thereof, he shall 
be punished therefor by a fine not exceeding ten thousand dol- 
lars, or by imprisonment not exceeding five years, or both said 
punishments, in the discretion of the court. 

Sec. 6. And be it further enacted. That every removal, appoint- 
ment, or employment, made, had, or exercised, contrary to the 
provisions of this act, and the making, signing, sealing, counter- 
signing, or issuing of any commission or letter of authority for 
or in respect to any such appointment or employment, shall be 
deemed, and arc hereby declared to be, high misdemeanors. 



1867] COMMAND OF THE ARMY 507 

and, upon trial and conviction thereof, every person guilty 
thereof shall be punished by a fine not exceeding ten thousand 
dollars, or by imprisonment not exceeding five years, or both 
said punishments, in the discretion of the court. . . . 



No. 151. Command of the Army- 
March 2, 1867 

Section 2 of the army appropriation act of March 2, 1867, virtually 
deprived the President, in certain cases, pf the command of the army. The 
constitutionality of the provision was debated at some length, but an amend- 
ment offered in the Senate February 26, by Reverdy Johnson of Maryland, to 
strike out the section was lost by a vote of 8 to 28, and other motions to the 
same effect failed of support. Sections 5 and 6 were added to the bill by 
the Senate. President Johnson approved the bill in order not to defeat the 
appropriations, but he entered his protest against the army provision. The 
section relating to the militia was repealed by acts of January 14 and March 
3, 1869. 

References. — - Text in U.S. Statutes at Large, XIV., 486, 487. For the 
proceedings see the House and Senate Journals, 39th Cong., 2d Sess., and 
the Cong. Globe. The important discussion was in the Senate. 

An Ad making appropriations for the support of the army for the 
year ending . . . [June 30, 1868] . . . , and for other purposes. 

Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That the headquarters of 
the General of the army of the United States shall be at the 
city of Washington, and all orders and instructions relating to 
military operations issued by the President or Secretary of War 
shall be issued through the General of the army, and, in case 
of his inabihty, through the next in rank. The General of the 
army shall not be removed, suspended, or relieved from com- 
mand, or assigned to duty elsewhere than at said headquarters, 
except at his own request, without the previous approval of the 
Senate; and any orders or instructions relating to military 
operations issued contrary to the requirements of this section 
shall be null and void; and any ofhcer who shall issue orders 
or instructions contrary to the provisions of this section shall be 



5o8 SECOND RECONSTRUCTION ACT [March 23 

deemed guilty of a misdemeanor in office; and any officer of 
the army who shall transmit, convey, or obey any orders or 
instructions so issued contrary to the provisions of this section, 
knowing that such orders were so issued, shall be liable to im- 
prisonment for not less than two nor more than twenty years, 
upon conviction thereof in any court of competent jurisdiction. 



No. 152. Second Reconstruction Act 

March 23, 1867 

By a resolution of March 7, 1867, the House Committee on the Judiciary 
were instructed "to report a bill declaring who shall call conventions for the 
reorganization of the rebel States, and providing for the registration of voters 
within said rebel States, and all elections for members of said conventions, or 
for the adoption or rejection of constitutions formed by said conventions, or 
for the choice of public officers, State and municipal, until the constitutions of 
said States shall have been approved by Congress, shall be by ballot." A bill 
in accordance with the resolution was reported March 11, and passed the 
same day, the vote being 117 to 27, 16 not voting. The Senate Committee 
on the Judiciary reported a substitute, which, with further amendments, 
passed that body on the 1 6th by a vote of 38 to 2. To the bill as thus amended 
the House added further amendments, the principal of which required the 
approval by a majority of the registered voters of the constitution submitted 
for ratification. The bill received its final form from a conference committee. 
March 23 President Johnson vetoed the bill, but it was passed over the veto 
the same day, in the House by a vote of 114 to 25, 25 not voting, and in the 
Senate by a vote of 40 to 7. 

References. — Text in U.S. Statutes at Large, XV., 2-4. For the pro- 
ceedings see the House and Senate Journals, 40th Cong., ist Sess., and the 
Cong. Globe. The texts of the numerous amendments submitted are in the 
Globe. 

An Act supplementary to an Act entitled "An Act to provide for 
the more efficient Government of the Rebel States,'^ passed . . . 
[March 2, 1867] . . . , and to facilitate Restoration. 

Be it enacted . . . , That before . . . [September i, 1867] . . . , 
the commanding general in each district defined by . . . [the act 
of March 2, 1867] • • • > shall cause a registration to be made 
of the male citizens of the United States, twenty-one years of age 



1867] SECOND RECONSTRUCTION ACT 509 

and upwards, resident in each county or parish in the State or 
States included in his district, which registration shall include 
only those persons who are qualified to vote for delegates by the 
act aforesaid, and who shall have taken and subscribed the follow- 
ing oath or affirmation: "I, , do solemnly swear (or 

affirm), in the presence of Almighty God, that I am a citizen of 

the State of ; that I have resided in said State for 

months next preceding this day, and now reside in the county of 

, or the parish of , in said State (as the case may be) ; 

that I am twenty-one years old; that I have not been disfran- 
chised for participation in any rebellion or civil war against the 
United States, or for felony committed against the laws of any 
State or of the United States; that I have never been a member 
of any State legislature, nor held any executive or judicial office 
in any State, and afterwards engaged in insurrection or rebellion 
against the United States, or given aid or comfort to the enemies 
thereof ; that I have never taken an oath as a member of Congress 
of the United States, or as an officer of the United States, or as a 
member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial 
officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United 
States, and afterwards engaged in insurrection or rebellion against 
the United States, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof; 
that I will faithfully support the Constitution and obey the laws 
of the United States, and will, to the best of my ability, encour- 
age others so to do, so help me God." . . . 

Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That after the completion 
of the registration hereby provided for in any State, at such 
time and places therein as the commanding general shall appoint 
and direct, of which at least thirty days' public notice shall be 
given, an election shall be held of delegates to a convention for 
the purpose of establishing a constitution and civil government 
for such State loyal to the Union, said convention in each State, 
except Virginia, to consist of the same number of members as 
the most numerous branch of the State legislature of such State 
... [in i860] . . . , to be apportioned among the several dis- 
tricts, counties, or parishes of such State by the commanding 
general, giving to each representation in the ratio of voters regis- 
tered as aforesaid as nearly as may be. The convention in Vir- 
ginia shall consist of the same number of members as represented 



5IO SECOND RECONSTRUCTION ACT [March 23 

the territory now constituting Virginia in the most numerous 
branch of the legislature of said State ... [in i860] . . . , to be 
apportioned as aforesaid. 

Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That at said election the 
registered voters of each State shall vote for or against a con- 
vention to form a constitution therefor under this act. ... If 
a majority of the votes given on that question shall be for a 
convention, then such convention shall be held as hereinafter 
provided; but if a majority of said votes shall be against a 
convention, then no such convention shall be held under this 
act: Provided, That such convention shall not be held unless a 
majority of all such registered voters shall have voted on the 
question of holding such convention. 

Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That the commanding 
general of each district shall appoint as many boards of regis- 
tration as may be necessary, consisting of three loyal officers or 
persons, to make and complete the registration, superintend the 
election, and make return to him of the votes, lists of voters, 
and of the persons elected as delegates by a plurality of the 
votes cast at said election; and upon receiving said returns he 
shall open the same, ascertain the persons elected as delegates, 
according to the returns of the officers who conducted said 
election, and make proclamation thereof; and if a majority of 
the votes given on that question shall be for a convention, the 
commanding general, within sixty days from the date of election, 
shall notify the delegates to assemble in convention, at a time 
and place to be mentioned in the notification, and said con- 
vention, when organized, shall proceed to frame a constitution 
and civil government according to the provisions of this act, 
and the act to which it is supplementary; and when the same 
shall have been so framed, said constitution shall be submitted 
by the convention for ratification to the persons registered under 
the provisions of this act at an election to be conducted by the 
officers or persons appointed or to be appointed by the com- 
manding general, as hereinbefore provided, and to be held after 
the expiration of thirty days from the date of notice thereof, to 
be given by said convention; and the returns thereof shall be 
made to the commanding general of the district. 

Sec. 5. And be it further enacted. That if, according to said 



1S67] CESSION OF ALASKA 511 

returns, the constitution shall be ratified by a majority of the 
votes of the registered electors qualified as herein specified, 
cast at said election, at least one half of all the registered voters 
voting upon the question of such ratification, the president of 
the convention shall transmit a copy of the same, duly certi- 
fied, to the President of the United States, who shall forthwith 
transmit the same to Congress . . . ; and if it shall moreover 
appear to Congress that the election was one at which all the 
registered and qualified electors in the State had an opportunity 
to vote freely and without restraint, fear, or the influence of fraud, 
and if the Congress shall be satisfied that such constitution meets 
the approval of a majority of all the qualified electors in the 
State, and if the said constitution shall be declared by Congress 
to be in conformity with the provisions of the act to which this is 
supplementary, and the other provisions of said act shall have 
been complied with, and the said constitution shall be approved 
by Congress, the State shall be declared entitled to representation, 
and senators and representatives shall be admitted therefrom as 
therein provided. 



No. 153. Treaty with Russia for the Ces- 
sion of Alaska 



March 30, 1867 

By the fourth article of the treaty of 1824 between the United States and 
Russia, it was agreed that for ten years the vessels of both powers might fish 
and trade in the interior waters on the northwest coast of North America, 
both north and south of 54° 40'. Negotiations for the continuance of the 
agreement failed, and the encroachments of American seamen in Russian ter- 
ritory were from time to time the subject of diplomatic correspondence. The 
friendly behavior of Russia towards the United States during the Civil War, 
though joined, doubtless, with an unwillingness on the part of the United 
States to see the power of Russia in North America increase, led to an accept- 
ance of the offer of Russia to sell Alaska. The treaty was communicated to 
the Senate July 16, 1867, and the formal transfer of the territory was made 
October 18. Copies of the treaty and correspondence were laid before the 
House February 17, 1868. The debate in the House raised the question of 
the constitutional relation of the House to treaties involving the appropria- 



512 CESSION OF ALASKA [March 30 

tion of money. The preamble of the bill making the appropriation, as it 
passed the House, asserted that the consent of that body was necessary to the 
ratification of such treaties. The Senate refused to accept the bill in that 
form, and the preamble was modified. The appropriation bill became law 
July 27. Another act of the same date extended the laws of the United 
States relating to customs, commerce, and navigation over Alaska, and estab- 
lished it as a collection district. 

References. — Text in U.S. Statutes at Large, XV., 539-543. For the 
documents and correspondence see Senate Exec. Doc. 17, 40th Cong., ist 
Sess.; House Exec. Docs. 125 a7td 177, 40th Cong., 2d Sess. Banks's report 
in favor of ratification is Elouse Report 37, 40th Co»g., 2d Sess. For the 
House proceedings see the Cong. Globe, 40th Cong., 2d Sess. 



Article I. 

His Majesty the Emperor of all the Russias agrees to cede 
to the United States ... all the territory and dominion now 
possessed by his said Majesty on the continent of America and 
in the adjacent islands, the same being contained within the geo- 
graphical limits herein set forth, to wit: The eastern limit is the 
line of demarcation between the Russian and the British posses- 
sions in North America, as established by the convention between 
Russia and Great Britain, of February 28-16, 1825, and described 
in Articles III and IV of said convention, in the following terms: 

"Commencing from the southernmost point of the island 
called Prince of Wales Island, which point lies in the parallel 
of 54 degrees 40 minutes north latitude, and between the 131st 
and 133d degree of west longitude, (meridian of Greenwich,) 
the said line shall ascend to the north along the channel called 
Portland Channel, as far as the point of the continent where it 
strikes the 56th degree of north latitude; from this last-men- 
tioned point, the line of demarcation shall follow the summit of 
the mountains situated parallel to the coast, as far as the point 
of intersection of the 141st degree of west longitude, (of the 
same meridian;) and finally, from the said point of intersection, 
the said meridian line of the 141st degree, in its prolongation as 
far as the Frozen Ocean. 

"IV. With reference to the line of demarcation laid down in 
the preceding article, it is understood — 

"ist. That the island called Prince of Wales Island shall 



1867] CESSION OF ALASKA 513 

belong wholly to Russia," (now, by this cession to the United 
States.) 

"2d. That whenever the summit of the mountains which 
extend in a direction parallel to the coast from the 56th degree 
of north latitude to the point of intersection of the 141st degree 
of west longitude shall prove to be at the distance of more than 
ten marine leagues from the ocean, the limit between the British 
possessions and the line of coast which is to belong to Russia 
as above mentioned, (that is to say, the limit to the possessions 
ceded by this convention,) shall be formed by a line parallel 
to the winding of the coast, and which shall never exceed the 
distance of ten marine leagues therefrom." 

The western limit within which the territories and dominion 
conveyed are contained passes through a point in Behring's 
Straits on the parallel of sixty-five degrees thirty minutes north 
latitude, at its intersection by the meridian which passes midway 
between the islands of Krusenstern or Ignalook, and the island 
of RatmanofT, or Noonarbook, and proceeds due north without 
limitation, into the same Frozen Ocean. The same western 
limit, beginning at the same initial point, proceeds thence in a 
course nearly southwest, through Behring's Straits and Behring's 
Sea, so as to pass midway between the northwest point of the 
island of St. Lawrence and the southeast point of Cape Chou- 
kotski, to the meridian of one hundred and seventy-two west 
longitude; thence, from the intersection of that meridian, in a 
southwesterly direction, so as to pass midway between the island 
of Attou and the Copper Island of the Kormandorski couplet or 
group, in the North Pacific Ocean, to the meridian of one hun- 
dred and ninety-three degrees west longitude, so as to include 
in the territory conveyed the whole of the Aleutian Islands east 
of that meridian. 

Article III. 

The inhabitants of the ceded territory, according to their 
choice, reserving their natural allegiance, may return to Russia 
within three years; but if they should prefer to remain in the 
ceded territory, they, with the exception of uncivilized native 
tribes, shall be admitted to the enjoyment of all the rights, advan- 



514 THIRD RECONSTRUCTION ACT [July 19 

tages, and immunities of citizens of the United States, and shall 

be maintained and protected in the free enjoyment of their 

liberty, property, and religion. The uncivilized tribes will be 

subject to such laws and regulations as the United States may 

from time to time adopt in regard to aboriginal tribes of that 

country. 

******** 

Article VI. 

In consideration of the cession aforesaid, the United States 
agree to pay at the Treasury in Washington, within ten months 
after the exchange of the ratifications of this convention, to the 
diplomatic representative or other agent of His Majesty the 
Emperor of all the Russias, duly authorized to receive the same, 
seven million two hundred thousand dollars in gold. . . . 
* * * * * * * *i 



No. 154. Third Reconstruction Act 

July 19, 1867 

The difficulties encountered by the military commanders in enforcing the 
acts of March 2 and 23, 1867, especially in regard to the oath prescribed in 
the second of the two acts, led to the issue on June 20, through the Adjutant 
General's office, and with the approval of all the members of the Cabinet ex- 
cept Stanton, of instructions setting forth the view of the Executive as to the 
meaning and scope of the acts in question. From the standpoint of Congress, 
the instructions were a serious limitation on the effectiveness of the acts. 
A bill to interpret and give effect to the reconstruction acts of March 2 
and 23 was reported in the Senate July 8, by Trumbull of Illinois, from 
the Committee on the Judiciary, but was laid aside on the nth in favor 
of a bill of similar purport which had passed the House. The Senate then 
substituted its own bill for the House bill, the bill in this form passing by 
a vote of 32 to 6. The bill received its final form from a conference com- 
mittee. July 10 President Johnson vetoed the bill, but it was at once passed 
over the veto, in the House by a vote of 109 to 25, 37 not voting, and in the 
Senate by a vote of 30 to 6. A joint resolution of the same date appropriated 
$1,000,000 to carry into effect the reconstruction acts. 

References. — Text in U.S. Statutes at Large, XV., 14-16. For the pro- 
ceedings see the House and Senate Journals, 40th Cong., ist Sess., and ^he 

> Signed: "William H. Seward, Edouard de Stoeckl." — Ed. 



1867] THIRD RECONSTRUCTION ACT 



0^:) 



Cong. Globe. For the opinions of Attorney General Stanbery, May 24 and 
June 12, see Senate Exec. Doc. 14, 40th Cong., ist Sess. The executive in- 
structions of June 20 are in Richardson, Messages and Papers of the Presi- 
dents, VI., 552-556. 

An Act supplementary to an Act entitled "An Act to provide for 
the more efficient Government of the Rebel States," passed . . . 
[Mart:h 2, 1867] . . . , and the Act supplementary thereto, passed 
. . . [March 23, 1867]. 

Be it enacted . . . , That it is hereby declared to have been 
the true intent and meaning ... [of the acts of March 2 and 
March 23, 1867] . . . , that the governments then existing in 
the rebel States of Virginia, North CaroUna, South Carolina, 
Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, Florida, Texas, and 
Arkansas were not legal State governments; and that thereafter 
said governments, if continued, were to be continued subject 
in all respects to the military commanders of the respective 
districts, and to the paramount authority of Congress. 

Sec. 2. Afid be it further enacted, That the commander of any 
district named in said act shall have power, subject to the dis- 
approval of the General of the army of the United States, and 
to have effect till disapproved, whenever in the opinion of such 
commander the proper administration of said act shall require 
it, to suspend or remove from office, or from the performance of 
official duties and the exercise of official powers, any officer or 
person holding or exercising, or professing to hold or exercise, 
any ci\'il or military office or duty in such district under any 
power, election, appointment or authority derived from, or 
granted by, or claimed under, any so-called State or the govern- 
ment thereof, or any municipal or other diWsion thereof, and 
upon such suspension or removal such commander, subject to 
the disapproval of the General as aforesaid, shall have power to 
pro\'ide from time to time for the performance of the said duties 
of such officer or person so suspended or removed, by the detail 
of some competent officer or soldier of the army, or by the ap- 
pointment of some other person, to perform the same, and to 
fill vacancies occasioned by death, resignation, or otherwise. 

Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That the General of the 
army of the United States shall be invested with all the powers 



5l6 THIRD RECONSTRUCTION ACT Quly 19 

of suspension, removal, appointment, and detail granted in the 
preceding section to district commanders. 

Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That the acts of the officers 
of the army already done in removing in said districts persons 
exercising the functions of civil officers, and appointing others 
in their stead, are hereby conlirmed: Provided, That any person 
heretofore or hereafter appointed by any district commaiKler to 
exercise the functions of any civil office, may be removed either 
by the military officer in command of the district, or by the 
General of the army. And it shall be the duty of such com- 
mander to remove from office as aforesaid all persons who are 
disloyal to the government of the United States, or who use 
their official influence in any manner to hinder, delay, prevent, 
or obstruct the due and proper administration of this act and 
the acts to which it is supplementary. 

Sec. 5. And be it further enacted, That the boards of regis- 
tration provided for in the act ... [of March 23, 1867] . . . , 
shall have power, and it shall be their duty before allowing the 
registration of any person, to ascertain, upon such facts or 
information as they can obtain, whether such person is entitled 
to be registered under said act, and the oath required by said 
act shall not be conclusive on such question, and no person 
shall be registered unless such board shall decide that he is 
entitled thereto; and such board shall also have power to exam- 
ine, under oath, . . . any one touching the qualification of any 
person claiming registration; but in every case of refusal by the 
board to register an applicant, and in every case of striking his 
name from the list as hereinafter provided, the board shall make a 
note or memorandum, which shall be returned with the registra- 
tion list to the commanding general of the district, setting forth 
the grounds of such refusal or such striking from the list: Pro- 
vided, That no person shall be disqualified as member of any 
board of registration by reason of race or color. 

Sec. 6. And be it further enacted, That the true intent and 
meaning of the oath prescribed in said supplementary act is, 
(among other things,) that no person who has been a member 
of the legislature of any State, or who has held any executive 
or judicial office in any State, whether he has taken an oath to 
support the Constitution of the United States or not, and whether 



1867] THIRD RECONSTRUCTION ACT 517 

he was holding such office at the commencement of the rebel- 
lion, or had held it before, and who has afterwards engaged in 
insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or given aid 
or comfort to the enemies thereof, is entitled to be registered 
or to vote; and the words "executive or judicial office in any- 
State" in said oath mentioned shall be construed to include all 
civil offices created by law for the administration of any general 
law of a State, or for the administration of justice. 

Sec. 7. And be it further enacted, That the time for complet- 
ing the original registration provided for in said act may, in the 
discretion of the commander of any district, be extended to . . . 
[October i, 1867] . . . ; and the boards of registration shall 
have power, and it shall be their duty, commencing fourteen days 
prior to any election under said act, and upon reasonable public 
notice of the time and place thereof, to revise, for a period of 
five days, the registration lists, and upon being satisfied that any 
person not entitled thereto has been registered, to strike the name 
of such person from the list, and such person shall not be allowed 
to vote. And such board shall also, during the same period, add 
to such registry the names of all persons who at that time possess 
the qualifications required by said act who have not been already 
registered; and no person shall, at any time, be entitled to 
be registered or to vote by reason of any executive pardon or 
amnesty for any act or thing which, without such pardon or 
amnesty, would disqualify him from registration or voting. 

Sec. 8. And be it further enacted, That section four of said 
last-named act shall be construed to authorize the commanding 
general named therein, whenever he shall deem it needful, to 
remove any member of a board of registration and to appoint 
another in his stead, and to fill any vacancy in such board. 

Sec. 9. And be it further enacted. That all members of said 
boards of registration and all persons hereafter elected or ap- 
pointed to office in said military districts, under any so-called 
State or municipal authority, or by detail or appointment of the 
district commanders, shall be required to take and to subscribe 
the oath of office prescribed by law for officers of the United States. 

Sec. 10. And be it further enacted. That no district com- 
mander or member of the board of registration, or any of 
the officers or appointees acting under them, shall be bound 



I 



5l8 ARTICLES OF IMPEACHMENT [March 2/3 

in his action by any opinion of any civil officer of the United 
States. 

Sec. II. And be it further enacted, That all provisions of this 
act and of the acts to which this is supplementary shall be con- 
strued liberally, to the end that all the intents thereof may be 
fully and perfectly carried out. 



No. 155. Articles of Impeachment 

March 2-3, 1868 

December 17, 1866, James M. Ashley of Ohio moved in the House to 
suspend the rules for the purpose of reporting from the Committee on Terri- 
tories a resolution for the appointment of a select committee "to inquire 
whether any acts have been done by any officer of the Government of the 
United States which, in contemplation of the Constitution, are high crimes or 
misdemeanors, and whether said acts were designed or calculated to over- 
throw, subvert, or corrupt the Ciovernment of the United States, or any de- 
partment thereof." The vote was 90 to 49, but two-thirds being necessary, 
the motion was lost. January 7, 1867, resolutions for the impeachment of 
President Johnson were offered by Benjamin F. Loan and John R. Kelso of 
Missouri, and referred, respectively, to the Committee on Reconstruction 
and the Committee on the Judiciary. On the same day Ashley, as a question 
of privilege, impeached Johnson of high crimes and misdemeanors, charging 
him "with a usurpation of power and violation of law" in having corruptly 
used the powers of appointment, pardon, and veto, "corruptly disposed of 
public property of the United States," and "corruptly interfered in elections, 
and committed acts which, in contemplation of the Constitution, are high 
crimes and misdemeanors." By a vote of 108 to 39 the charges were re- 
ferred to the Committee on the Judiciary for investigation. February 28 the 
committee reported that, from lack of time, it had reached no conclusion. 
March 7 a resolution submitted by .A.shley directed the continuance of 
the investigation, and on the 29th, on motion of Sidney Clarke of Kansas, the 
committee was requested to report at the first meeting of the House after the 
recess. November 25 George S. Boutwell of Massachusetts submitted the 
majority report of the committee. The report closed with a resolution that 
the President "be impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors." Decem- 
ber 7, by a vote of 57 to 108, the resolution was disagreed to. The evidence 
taken by the Committee on the Judiciary, together with the correspondence 
between Johnson and Grant, was referred to the Committee on Reconstruction. 
February 21, 1868, Stanton communicated to the House Johnson's order 
removing him from the office of Secretary of War; this, with a resolution for 
the impeachment of the President, was also referred to the Committee on 
Reconstruction. On the 2 2d the committee reported a resolution recom- 



i868] ARTICLES OF IMPEACHMENT 519 

mending impeachment, which was agreed to on the 24th by a vote of 1 28 to 47. 
Committees were appointed to prepare the articles of impeachment and to 
notify the Senate. The action of the House was communicated to the Senate 
on the 25th. Nine articles of impeachment were agreed to by the House 
March 2, two additional articles being approved the following day. On the 
4th the articles were read to the Senate, and on the 6th an order was entered 
directing the issuance of a summons to the President to file an answer to the 
charges, the order being made returnable March 13. A request for more 
time in which to prepare an answer secured an extension to the 23d. On 
that date the answer of the President was read. A request for thirty days in 
which to complete preparations for the trial was denied, the vote being 12 to 
41. The trial began March 30, Chief Justice Chase presiding, and continued 
until May 12. May 16 a vote was taken on Article XL of the charges. The 
vote was 35 "guilty," 19 "not guilty." Votes on Articles II. and III., May 
26, showed the same result, whereupon the court, by a vote of 34 to 16, 
adjourned sine die. Judgment of acquittal was entered on the three articles 
on which a vote was taken. 

For convenience, the votes on the adoption of the several articles are 
given in brackets after each article in the text following. 

References. — Text in House Journal, 40th Cong., 2d Sess., 440-465. 
For the proceedings prior to the trial see the House and Senate Journals and 
thp Cong. Globe ; for the trial see the Senate Journal, Appendix, and the Cong. 
Globe, Supplement. The report of November 25, 1867, is House Report 7, 
40th Cong., 1st Sess. On the Stanton-Grant episode see House Exec. Docs. 
57, 149, 16S and 183, 40th Cong., 2d Sess. Extracts from Johnson's inter- 
views and speeches are given in McPherson, Reconstruction, 44-63, 127-143. 
The early impeachment testimony is in House Report 7, 40th Cong., ist Sess.; 
for the articles and fuller testimony see House Misc. Doc. 91, 40th Cong., 
2d Sess. On the conduct of the impeachment see House Reports 74 and 75, 
Senate Report 59, and Senate Misc. Doc. 43, 40th Cong., 2d Sess. See also 
De Witt, Impeachment and Trial of Andrew Johnson; Foster, Commentaries 
on the Constitution, L, 546-564. 

Article I. That said Andrew Johnson, President of the 
United States, on . . . [February 21, 1868] . . . , at Washington, 
in the District of Columbia, unmindful of the high duties of his 
office, of his oath of office, and of the requirement of the Consti- 
tution that he should take care that the laws be faithfully executed, 
did unlawfully, and in violation of the Constitution and laws of 
the United States, issue an order in writing for the removal of 
Edwin M. Stanton from the office of Secretary for the Department 
of War, said Edwin M. Stanton having been theretofore duly 
appointed and commissioned, by and with the advice and consent 
of the Senate of the United States, as such Secretary, and said 
Andrew Johnson, President of the United States, on . . . [August 



520 ARTICLES OF IMPEACHMENT [March 2/3 

12, 1867] . . . , and during the recess of said Senate, having 
suspended by his order Edwin M. Stanton from said office, and 
within twenty days after the first day of the next meeting of said 
Senate, that is to say, on the twelfth day of December in the year 
last aforesaid, having reported to said Senate such suspension 
with the evidence and reasons for his action in the case and the 
name of the person designated to perform the duties of such office 
temporarily until the next meeting of the Senate, and said Senate 
thereafterwards on . . . [January 13, 1868] . . . , ha\'ing duly 
considered the evidence and reasons reported by said Andrew 
Johnson for said suspension, and having refused to concur in 
said suspension, whereby and by force of the pro\isions of . . . 
[the Tenure of Office Act] . . . , said Edwin AI. Stanton did 
forthwith resume the functions of his office, whereof the said 
Andrew Johnson had then and there due notice, and said Edwin 
jM. Stanton, by reason of the premises, on said twenty-first day 
of February, being lawfully entitled to hold said office of Secretary 
for the Department of War, which said order for the removal 
of said Edwin M. Stanton is in substance as follows, that is to say: 

Executive Mansion, 
Washingto)!, B.C., February 21, 1868. 

Sir: By virtue of the power and authority vested in me as President by 
the Constitution and laws of the United States, you are hereby removed from 
office as Secretary for the Department of War, and your functions as such will 
terminate upon receipt of this communication. 

You will transfer to Brevet Major General Lorenzo Thomas, Adjutant 
General of the army, who has this day been authorized and empowered to 
act as Secretary of War ad interim, all records, books, papers, and other pub- 
lic property now in your custody and charge. 

Respectfully, yours, ANDREW JOHNSON. 

To the Hon. Edwin M. Stanton, Washington, D.C. 

Which order was unlawfully issued with intent then and there 
to violate . , . [the Tenure of Office Act] . . . , and with the 
further intent, contrary to the provisions of said act, in violation 
thereof, and contrary to the provisions of the Constitution of the 
United States, and without the ad\-ice and consent of the Senate 
of the United States, the said Senate then and there being in session, 
to remove said Edwin M. Stanton from the office of Secretary 



ARTICLES OF IMPEACHMENT 



521 



for the Department of War, the said Edwin M. Stanton being 
then and there Secretary for the Department of War, and being 
then and there in the due and lawful execution and discharge of 
the duties of said office, whereby said Andrew Johnson, President 
of the United States, did then and there commit and was guilty of 
a high misdemeanor in office. 

[Agreed to, 127 to 42, 20 not voting.] 

Article II. That on said twenty-first day of February . . . 
[1868] . . . , at Washington, . . . said Andrew Johnson . . . , 
unmindful of the high duties of his office, of his oath of office, 
and in violation of the Constitution of the United States, and 
contrary to the provisions of . . . [the Tenure of Office Act] 
. . . , without the advice and consent of the Senate of the United 
States, said Senate then and there being in session, and without 
authority of law, did, with intent to violate the Constitution of 
the United States, and the act aforesaid, issue and deliver to one 
Lorenzo Thomas a letter of authority in substance as follows, 
that is to say: 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, D.C., February 21, 1868. 

Sir: The Hon. Edwin M. Stanton having been this day removed from 
office as Secretary for the Department of War, you are hereby authorized and 
empowered to act as Secretary of War ad interim, and will immediately enter 
upon the discharge of the duties pertaining to that office. 

Mr. Stanton has been instructed to transfer to you all the records, books, 
papers, and other public property now in his custody and charge. 

Respectfully, yours, ANDREW JOHNSON. 

To Brevet Major General Lorenzo TnoMAS, 
Adjutant General U.S. Army, Washington, D.C. 

Then and there being no vacancy in said office of Secretary 
for the Department of War, whereby said Andrew Johnson, 
President of the United States, did then and there commit and 
was guilty of a high misdemeanor in office. 

[Agreed to, 124 to 41, 24 not voting.] 

Article III. That said Andrew Johnson, . . . [on February 
21, 1868] . . . , at Washington, . . . did commit and was guilty 
of a high misdemeanor in office in this, that, without authority 
of law, while the Senate of the United States was then and there 



522 ARTICLES OF IMPEACHMENT [March 2/3 

in session, he did appoint one Lorenzo Thomas to be Secretary 
for the Department of War ad interim, without the advice and 
consent of the Senate, and with intent to violate the Constitution 
of the United States, no vacancy having happened in said office 
of Secretary for the Department of War during the recess of the 
Senate, and no vacancy existing in said office at the time. . . . 

[Agreed to, 124 to 40, 25 not voting.] 

Article IV. That said Andrew Johnson, . . . [on February 
21, 1868] . . . , at Washington, . . . did unlawfully conspire 
with one Lorenzo Thomas, and with other persons to the House 
of Representatives unknown, with intent, by intimidation and 
threats, unlawfully to hinder and prevent Edvvin M. Stanton, 
then and there the Secretary for the Depart nent of War, duly 
appointed under the la.vs of the United States, from holding 
said office of Secretary for the Depart nent of War, contrary to 
and in violation of the Constitution of the United States, and of 
the provisions of . . . [the Conspiracy Act of July 31, 186 1]. 

[Agreed to, 127 to 42, 20 not voting.] 

Article V. That said Andre -v Johnson, . . . [on February 
21, 1868] . . . , and on divers other days and times in said year 
. . . [before March 2, 1868] . . . , at Washington, . . . did un- 
lawfully conspire with one Lorenzo Thomas, and with other per- 
sons to the House of Representatives unknown, to prevent and 
hinder the execution of . . . [the Tenure of Office Act] . . . , 
and in pursuance of said conspiracy did unlawfully attempt to 
prevent Edwin M. Stanton, then and there being Secretary for 
the Department of War, duly appointed and commissioned under 
the laws of the United States, from holding said office . . . 

[Agreed to, 127 to 42, 20 not voting.] 

Article VL That said Andrew Johnson, . . . [on February 
21, 1868] . . . , at Washington, . . . did unlawfully conspire 
with one Lorenzo Thomas, by force to seize, take, and possess 
the property of the United States in the Department of War, and 
then and there in the custody and charge of Edwin M. Stanton, 
Secretary for said department, contrary to the provisions of . . . 
[the act of July 31, 1861] . . . , and with intent to violate and 
disregard . . . [the Tenure of Office Act] ... 

[Agreed to, 127 to 42, 20 not voting.] 

Article VH. That said Andrew Johnson, . . . [on February 



ARTICLES OF IMPEACHMENT 523 

21, 1868] . . . , at Washington, . . . did unlawfully conspire 
with one Lorenzo Thomas with intent unlawfully to seize, take, 
and possess the property of the United States in the Department 
of War, in the custody and charge of Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary 
for said department, with intent to violate and disregard . . . 
[the. Tenure of Office Act] . . . 

[Agreed to, 127 to 42, 20 not voting.] 

Article VIII. That said Andrew Johnson, . . . with intent 
unlawfully to control the disbursements of the moneys appro- 
priated for the military service and for the Department of 
War, ... [on February 21, 1868] . . . , at Washington, . . . 
did unlawfully and contrary to the provisions of . . . [the Tenure 
of Office Act] . . . , and in violation of the Constitution of the 
United States, and without the advice and consent of the Senate 
of the United States, and while the Senate was then and there 
in session, there being no vacancy in the office of Secretary for 
the Department of War, and with intent to violate and disregard 
the act aforesaid, then and there issue and deliver to one Lorenzo 
Thomas a letter of authority in writing, in substance as follows, 
that is to say: 

[Here follows the letter of appointment as in Article XL] 

[Agreed to, 127 to 42, 20 not voting.] 

Article IX. That said Andrew Johnson, . . . [on February 
22,1868]. . . , at Washington, . . . in disregard of the Constitution 
and the laws of the United States duly enacted, as commander-in- 
chief of the army of the United States, did bring before himself 
then and there William H. Emory, a major general by brevet 
in the army of the United States, actually in command of the 
department of Washington and the military forces thereof, and 
did then and there, as such commander-in-chief, declare to and 
instruct said Emory that part of . . . [the Army Appropriation 
Act of March 2, 1867] . . . , especially the second section thereof, 
. . . was unconstitutional, and in contravention of the commis- 
sion of said Emory, and which said provision of law had been 
theretofore duly and legally promulgated by General Order for 
the government and direction of the army of the United States, 
as the said Andrew Johnson then and there well knew, with intent 
thereby to induce said Emory in his official capacity as commander 
of the department of Washington to violate the provisions of said 



524 ARTICLES OF IMPEACHMENT [March 2/3 

act, and to take and receive, act upon, and obey such orders as he, 
the said Andrew Johnson, might make and give, and which should 
not be issued through the General of the army of the United States, 
according to the provisions of said act, and with the further intent 
thereby to enable him, the said Andrew Johnson, to prevent 
the execution of . . . [the Tenure of Office Act] . . . , and to 
unlawfully prevent Edwin M. Stanton, then being Secretary for 
the Department of War, from holding said office and discharg- 
ing the duties thereof . . . 

[Agreed to, ic8 to 4-. 40 not voting.] 

Article X. That said Andrew Johnson, . . . unmindful of 
the high duties of his office and the dignity and proprieties thereof, 
and of the harmony and courtesies which ought to exist and be 
maintained between the executive and legislative branches of the 
government of the United States, designing and intending to set 
aside the rightful authority and powers of Congress, did attempt 
to bring into disgrace, ridicule, hatred, contempt, and reproach 
the Congress of the United States, and the several branches thereof, 
to impair and destroy the regard and respect of all the good people 
of the United States for the Congress and legislative power 
thereof, (which all officers of the government ought inviolably 
to preserve and maintain,) and to excite the odium and resent- 
ment of all the good people of the United States against Con- 
gress and the laws by it duly and constitutionally enacted ; and in 
pursuance of his said design and intent openly and publicly, and 
before divers assemblages of the citizens of the United States 
convened in divers parts thereof to meet and receive said 
Andrew Johnson as the Chief Magistrate of the United States, 
did, . . . [on August 18, 1866] . . . , and on divers other days 
and times, as well before as afterward, make and deliver with a 
loud voice certain intemperate, inflammatory and scandalous 
harangues, and did therein utter loud threats and bitter menaces 
as well against Congress as the laws of the United States duly 
enacted thereby, amid the cries, jeers, and laughter of the mul- 
titudes then assembled and in hearing, which are set forth in 
the several specifications hereinafter written, in substance and 
effect, that is to say: 

Specification First. In this, that at Washington, ... in 
the Executive Mansion, to a committee of citizens who called 



ARTICLES OF IMPEACHMENT 525 

upon the President of the United States, speaking of and con- 
cerning the Congress of the United States, said Andrew Johnson, 
. . . [on August 18, 1866] . . . , did, in a loud voice, declare in 
substance and effect, among other things, that is to say: 
******** 

"We have witnessed in one department of the government 
every endeavor to prevent the restoration of peace, harmony, 
and union. We have seen hanging upon the verge of the gov- 
ernment, as it were, a body called, or which assumes to be, the 
Congress of the United States, while in fact it is a Congress of 
only a part of the States. We have seen this Congress pretend 
to be for the Union, when its every step and act tended to per- 
petuate disunion and make a disruption of the States inevitable. 
* * * ^g hsLve seen Congress gradually encroach, step by 
step, upon constitutional rights, and violate, day after day and 
month after month, fundamental principles of the government. 
We have seen a Congress that seemed to forget that there was 
a limit to the sphere and scope of legislation. We have seen a 
Congress in a minority assume to exercise power which, allowed 
to be consummated, would result in despotism or monarchy 
itself." 

Specification Second. In this, that at Cleveland, . . . [on 
September 3, 1866] . . . , before a public assemblage of citizens 
and others, said Andrew Johnson, . . . speaking of and con- 
cerning the Congress of the United States, did, in a loud voice, 
declare in substance and effect, among other things, that is to say: 

"I will tell you what I did do. I called upon your Congress 
that is trying to break up the government." 

"In conclusion, beside that. Congress had taken much pains 
to poison their constituents against him. But what had Con- 
gress done? Have they done anything to restore the union of 
these States? No; on the contrary, they had done everything 
to prevent it; and because he stood now where he did when the 
rebellion commenced, he had been denounced as a traitor. Who 
had run greater risks or made greater sacrifices than himself? 
But Congress, factious and domineering, had undertaken to 
poison the minds of the American people." 



526 ARTICLES OF IMPEACHMENT [March 2/3 

Specification Third. In this, that at St. Louis, . . . [on 
September 8, 1866] . . . , before a public assemblage of citizens 
and others, said Andrew Johnson, . . . speaking of and con- 
cerning the Congress of the United States, did, in a loud voice, 
declare, in substance and effect, among other things, that is to 
say: 

"Go on. Perhaps if you had a word or two on the subject of 
New Orleans you might understand more about it than you do. 
And if you will go back — if you will go back and ascertain the 
cause of the riot at New Orleans perhaps you will not be so 
prompt in calling out 'New Orleans.' If you will take up the 
riot at New Orleans and trace it back to its source or its imme- 
diate cause, you will find out who was responsible for the blood 
that was shed there. If you will take up the riot at New 
Orleans and trace it back to the radical Congress, you will find 
that the riot at New Orleans was substantially planned. If you 
will take up the proceedings in their caucuses you will under- 
stand that they there knew that a convention was to be called 
which was extinct by its power having expired; that it was said 
that the intention was that a new government was to be organ- 
ized, and on the organization of that government the intention 
was to enfranchise one portion of the population, called the col- 
ored population, who had just been emancipated, and at the 
same time disfranchise white men. When you design to talk 
about New Orleans you ought to understand what you are talk- 
ing about. When you read the speeches that were made, and 
take up the facts on the Friday and Saturday before that con- 
vention sat, you will there find that speeches were made incen- 
diary in their character, exciting that portion of the population, 
the black population, to arm themselves and prepare for the 
shedding of blood. You will also find that that convention did 
assemble in violation of law, and the intention of that conven- 
tion was to supersede the reorganized authorities in the State 
government of Louisiana, which had been recognized by the 
government of the United States; and every man engaged in 
that rebellion in that convention, with the intention of supersed- 
ing and upturning the civil government which had been recog- 
nized by the government of the United States, I say that he was 
a traitor to the Constitution of the United States, and hence you 



i868] ARTICLES OF IMPEACHMENT 527 

find that another rebelHon was commenced, having its origin in 

the radical Congress. 

******** 

"So much for the New Orleans riot. And there was the 
cause and the origin of the blood that was shed; and every 
drop of blood that was shed is upon their skirts and they are 
responsible for it. I could test this thing a little closer, but 
will not do it here to-night. But when you talk about the 
causes and consequences that resulted from proceedings of that 
kind, perhaps, as I have been introduced here, and you have 
provoked questions of this kind, though it does not provoke 
me, I will tell you a few wholesome things that have been 
done by this radical Congress in connection with New Orleans 
and the extension of the elective franchise. 

"I know that I have been traduced and abused. I know it 
has come in advance of me here as elsewhere — that I have 
attempted to exercise an arbitrary power in resisting laws that 
were intended to be forced upon the government; that I had 
exercised that power; that I had abandoned the party that 
elected me, and that I was a traitor, because I exercised the 
veto power in attempting and did arrest for a time a bill that 
was called a 'Freedman's Bureau' bill; yes, that I was a 
traitor. And I have been traduced, I have been slandered, I 
have been maligned, I have been called Judas Iscariot, and all 
that. Now, my countrymen here to-night, it is very easy to 
indulge in epithets; it is easy to call a man Judas, and cry out 
traitor; but when he is called upon to give arguments and facts 
he is very often found wanting. Judas Iscariot — Judas. There 
was a Judas, and he was one of the twelve apostles. Oh yes, 
the twelve apostles had a Christ. The twelve aposdes had a 
Christ, and he never could have had a Judas unless he had 
had twelve apostles. If I have played the Judas, who has 
been my Christ that I have played the Judas with? Was it 
Thad. Stevens? Was it Wendell Phillips? Was it Charles 
Sumner? These are the men that stop and compare them- 
selves with the Saviour; and everybody that differs with them 
in opinion, and to try to stay and arreat their diabolical and 
nefarious poHcy, is to be denounced as a Judas." 

*****4= ** 



528 ARTICLES OF IMPEACHMENT [March 2/3 

"Well, let me say to you, if you will stand by me in this action, 
if you will stand by me in trying to give the people a fair chance — 
soldiers and citizens — to participate in these offices, God being 
willing, I will kick them out. I will kick them out just as fast as 
I can. 

"Let me say to you, in concluding, that what I have said I 
intended to say. I was not provoked into this, and I care not 
for their menaces, the taunts, and the jeers. I care not for threats. 
I do not intend to be bullied by my enemies nor overawed by my 
friends. But God willing, with your help, I will veto their meas- 
ures whenever any of them come to me." 

Which said utterances, declarations, threats, and harangues, 
highly censurable in any, are peculiarly indecent and unbecoming 
in the Chief Magistrate of the United States, by means whereof 
said Andrew Johnson has brought the high office of the President 
of the United States into contempt, ridicule, and disgrace, to the 
great scandal of all good citizens . . . 

[Agreed to, 88 to 44, 57 not voting.] 

Article XI. That said Andrew Johnson, . . . unmindful 
of the high duties of his office and of his oath of office, and in dis- 
regard of the Constitution and laws of the United States, did . . . 
on the i8th day of August, 1866, at the city of Washington, . . . 
by public speech, declare and affirm, in substance, that the thirty- 
ninth Congress of the United States was not a Congress of the 
United States authorized by the Constitution to exercise legislative 
power under the same; but, on the contrary, was a Congress of 
only part of the States, thereby denying and intending to deny that 
the legislation of said Congress was valid or obligatory upon him, 
the said Andrew Johnson, except in so far as he saw fit to approve 
the same, and also thereby denying and intending to deny the 
power of the said thirty-ninth Congress to propose amendments to 
the Constitution of the United States; and in pursuance of said 
declaration, the said Andrew Johnson, . . . afterward, to wit, 
on the 2ist day of February, 1868, at the city of Washington, . . . 
did unlawfully and in disregard of the requirements of the Con- 
stitution, that he should take care that the laws be faithfully exe- 
cuted, attempt to prevent the execution of . . . [the Tenure of 
Office Act] . . . , by unlawfully devising and contriving, and 
attempting to devise and contrive, means by which he should 



i868] FOURTH RECONSTRUCTON ACT 529 

prevent Edwin M. Stanton from forthwith resuming the functions 
of the office of Secretary for the Department of War, notwithstand- 
ing the refusal of the Senate to concur in the suspension theretofore 
made by said Andrew Johnson of said Edwin M. Stanton from said 
office of Secretary for the Department of War, and also by further 
unlawfully devising and contriving and attempting to devise and 
contrive means then and there to prevent the execution of . . . 
[the Army Appropriation Act of March 2, 1867] . . . , and 
also to prevent the execution of . . . [the Reconstruction Act 
of March 2, 1867] . . . 

[Agreed to, 109 to 32, 48 not voting.] 



No. 156. Fourth Reconstruction Act 

March 11, 1868 

A BILL "to facilitate the restoration of the late rebel States" was intro- 
duced in the House December 5, 1867, by Ashley of Ohio, and referred to 
the Committee on the Judiciary. On the iSth the bill was withdrawn in 
favor of a bill of similar purport, substantially identical with the act as passed, 
brought forward by Thaddeus Stevens. The latter bill passed the House the 
same dav by a vote of 104 to 37, 47 not voting. The bill was not at once con- 
sidered in the Senate. The rejection, February 4, 1868, of the proposed con- 
stitution of Alabama, however, when "the registered voters refrained from 
voting upon the question of ratification in sufficient numbers to reduce tiic 
vote to several thousand less than half the registration," hastened action. 
A substitute for the House bill was reported February 17, and on the 26th 
was agreed to, the vote being 28 to 6. The House, by a vote of 96 to 32, 
61 not voting, concurred. March 11 the bill became law by the ten days 
rule. 

References. — Text in U.S. Statutes at Large, XV., 41. For the proceed- 
ings see the House and Senate Journals, 40th Cong., 2d Sess., and the Cong. 
Globe. The text of Ashley's bill is in the Globe, December 18, House pro- 
ceedings. On elections in the Southern States see House Exec. Doc. 291, 
40th Cong., ist Sess.; annual report of the Secretary of War, 1868. 

An Act to amend the Act ... [of March 23, 1867] . . . 

Be it enacted . . . , That hereafter any election authorized by 
the act [of March 23,1867] . . . , shall be decided by a majority 
of the votes actually cast ; and at the election in which the question 



530 RESTORATION OF ARKANSAS [June 22 

of the adoption or rejection of any constitution is submitted, any 
person duly registered in the State may vote in the election district 
where he offers to vote when he has resided therein for ten days 
next preceding such election, upon presentation of his certificate 
of registration, his affidavit, or other satisfactory evidence, under 
such regulations as the district commanders may prescribe. 

Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That the constitutional 
convention of any of the States mentioned in the acts to which 
this is amendatory may provide that at the time of voting upon 
the ratification of the constitution the registered voters may 
vote also for members of the House of Representatives of the 
United States, and for all elective officers provided for by the 
said constitution ; and the same election ofiicers who shall make 
the return of the votes cast on the ratification or rejection of 
the constitution, shall enumerate and certify the votes cast for 
members of Congress. 



No. 157. Act admitting Arkansas to Rep- 
resentation in Congress 

June 22, 1868 

Under Lincoln's proclamation of December 8, 1863 [No. 137], Arkansas 
formed a State government, but its representatives were refused admittance 
by Congress, and the joint resolution of February 8, 1865 [No. 140], included 
the State in the list of those whose electoral votes should not be counted. 
The reconstruction government was, however, recognized by President John- 
son, and the State was counted in the list of those whose legislatures had rati- 
fied the Thirteenth Amendment. The first reconstruction act of March 2, 
1867 [No. 149], placed Arkansas in the fourth military division, and the re- 
habilitation of the State proceeded under the military government. The nar- 
row majority in favor of the ratification of the State constitution, March 13, 
1868, led to the introduction of a bill to admit Arkansas to representation in 
Congress. The bill was reported in the House May 7, by Thaddeus Stevens, 
from the Joint Committee on Reconstruction, and passed the next day by 
a vote of no to 32, 48 not voting. In the Senate an amendment prohibiting 
the abridgment of the elective franchise, etc., on account of race or color was 
agreed to, June i, by a vote of 26 to 14, and the bill passed, the final vote be- 
ing 34 to 8. The House refused to concur, and the bill received its final form 
from a conference committee. The report of the committee was agreed to by 



i868] RESTORATION OF ARKANSAS 531 

the Senate June 6, and by the House June 8. On the 20th the bill was 
vetoed by President Johnson, but was passed over the veto, in the House the 
same day by a vote of iii to 31, 48 not voting, and in the Senate June 22, by 
a vote of 30 to 7. Senators from the State qualified June 23, and Repre- 
sentatives June 24. 

References. — Text in U.S. Statutes at Large, XV., 72. For the pro- 
ceedings see the House and Senate Journals, 40th Cong., 2d Sess., and the 
Cong. Globe. On the election in Arkansas see House Exec. Doc. 278; on 
the ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment, House Misc. Doc. 118, 
ibid. 

AN ACT to admit the State of Arkansas to representation in 

Congress. 

Whereas the people of Arkansas, in pursuance of the pro- 
visions of an act entitled " An act for the more efficient gov- 
ernment of the rebel States," passed March second, eighteen 
hundred and sixty-seven, and the acts supplementary thereto, 
have framed and adopted a constitution of State government, 
which is republican, and the legislature of said State has duly 
ratified the amendment to the Constitution of the United States 
proposed by the thirty-ninth Congress, and known as article 
fourteen : Therefore, 

Be it enacted . . . , That the State of Arkansas is entitled 
and admitted to representation in Congress as one of the States 
of the Union upon the following fundamental condition: That 
the constitution of Arkansas shall never be so amended or changed 
as to deprive any citizen or class of citizens of the United States 
of the right to vote who are entitled to vote by the constitution 
herein recognized, except as a punishment for such crimes as are 
now felonies at common law, whereof they shall have been duly 
convicted, under laws equally applicable to all the inhabitants 
of said State: Provided, That any alteration of said constitution 
prospective in its effect may be made in regard to the time and 
place of residence of voters. 



532 RESTORATION OF CERTAIN STATES [June 25 

No. 158. Act admitting North Carolina, 
South Carolina, Louisiana, Georgia, Ala- 
bama, and Florida to Representation in 
Congress 

June 25, 1868 

As a result of the vote on the ratification of the State constitution of Ala- 
bama, a bill to restore Alabama to the Union was introduced in the House 
March 10, 1868, by Thaddeus Stevens. A substitute for this bill passed the 
House, but was indefinitely postponed by the Senate. May 11 a bill to admit 
North Carolina, South Carolina, Louisiana, Georgia, and Alabama to repre- 
sentation in Congress was reported by Stevens from the Joint Committee on 
Reconstruction. An amendment striking out Alabama from the list of States 
was rejected by a vote of 60 to 74, 55 not voting. On the 14th the amended 
bill passed the House, the vote being no to 35, 44 not voting. June 10 the 
Senate, by a vote of 22 to 21, included Florida, and the bill with further 
amendments passed, the vote being 31 to 5. The House concurred in the 
Senate amendments by a vote of in to 28, 50 not voting, an amendment 
striking out Florida being rejected by a vote of 45 to 99, 45 not voting. The 
bill was vetoed by President Johnson June 25, and passed over the veto 
the same day, in the House by a vote of 108 to 32, 54 not voting, and in 
the Senate by a vote of 35 to 8. 

References. — Text in U.S. Statutes at Large, XV., 73, 74. For the pro- 
ceedings see the House and Senate Journals, 40th Cong., 2d Sess., and the 
Cong. Globe. On Alabama see House Exec. Docs. 302 and 303, and House 
Report 21, 40th Cong., 2d Sess.; on North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, 
and Louisiana, House Exec. Docs. 281, 300, and 301, 40th Cong., 2d Sess., 
and Senate Exec. Doc. 15, 40th Cong., 3d Sess.; on Florida, House Misc. 
Docs. 109 and 114, 40th Cong., 2d Sess. 

An Act to admit the States of North Carolina, South Carolina, 
Louisiana, Georgia, Alabama, and Florida, to Representation 
in Congress. 

Whereas the people of North Carolina, South Carolina, Lou- 
isiana, Georgia, Alabama, and Florida have, in pursuance of the 
provisions of . . . [the Reconstruction Act of March 2, 1867] . . . , 
and the acts supplementary thereto, framed constitutions of State 
government which are republican, and have adopted said con- 
stitutions by large majorities of the votes cast at the elections 
held for the ratification or rejection of the same: Therefore, 

Be it enacted .... That each of the States of North Caro- 



i868] RESTORATION OF CERTAIN STATES 533 

lina, South Carolina, Louisiana, Georgia, Alabama, and Florida, 
shall be entitled and admitted to representation in Congress as 
a State of the Union when the legislature of such State shall 
have duly ratified the amendment to the Constitution of the 
United States proposed by the Thirty-ninth Congress, and known 
as article fourteen, upon the following fundamental conditions: 
That the constitutions of neither of said States shall ever be so 
amended or changed as to deprive any citizen or class of citizens 
of the United States of the right to vote in said State, who are 
entitled to vote by the constitution thereof herein recognized, 
except as a punishment for such crimes as are now felonies at 
common law, whereof they shall have been duly convicted under 
laws equally applicable to all the inhabitants of said State: Pro- 
vided, That any alteration of said constitution may be made with 
regard to the time and place of residence of voters ; and the State 
of Georgia shall only be entitled and admitted to representation 
upon this further fundamental condition : that the first and third 
subdivisions of section seventeen of the fifth article of the constitu- 
tion of said State, except the proviso to the first subdivision, 
shall be null and void, and that the general assembly of said State 
by solemn public act shall declare the assent of the State to the 
foregoing fundamental condition. 

Sec. 3. And he it further enacted, That the first section of this 
act shall take effect as to each State, except Georgia, when such 
State shall, by its legislature, duly ratify article fourteen of the 
amendments to the Constitution of the United States, proposed 
by the Thirty-ninth Congress, and as to the State of Georgia 
when it shall in addition give the assent of said State to the funda- 
mental condition hereinbefore imposed upon the same; and 
thereupon the officers of each State duly elected and qualified 
under the constitution thereof shall be inaugurated without delay ; 
but no person prohibited from holding office under the United 
States, or under any State, by section three of the proposed amend- 
ment to the Constitution of the United States, known as article 
fourteen, shall be deemed eligible to any office in either of said 
States, unless relieved from disability as provided in said amend- 
ment ; and it is hereby made the duty of the President within ten 
days after receiving official information of the ratification of said 



534 OATH OF OFFICE [July ii 

amendment by the legislature of either of said States to issue a 
proclamation announcing that fact. 



No. 159. Oath of Office 

July II, 1868 

March 5, 1868, the House having under consideration a resolution for the 
removal of the political disabilities of R. R. Butler, a representative-elect from 
Tennessee, the resolution, on motion of Dawes of Massachusetts, was recom- 
mitted to the Committee on Elections with instructions to report a general bill 
for the removal of such disabilities. The bill was reported the same day, and 
on the 6th passed. Subsequent amendments in the Senate and House were 
unimportant, and the yeas and nays were not called for. An act of February 
15, 1871, allowed those who could not take the oath prescribed by the act of 
July 2, 1862, and who were not rendered ineligible to office by the Fourteenth 
Amendment, to take the oath prescribed by this act. 

References. — Text in U .S. Statutes at Large, XV., 85. For the pro- 
ceedings see the House and Senate Journals, 40th Cong., 2d Sess. 

An Ad prescribing an Oath of Office to he taken by Persons from 
whom legal Disabilities shall have been removed. 

Be it enacted . . . . , That whenever any person who has par- 
ticipated in the late rebellion, and from whom all legal disabilities 
arising therefrom have been removed by act of Congress by a 
vote of two thirds of each house, has been or shall be elected or 
appointed to any office or place of trust in or under the govern- 
ment of the United States, he shall, before entering upon the 
duties thereof, instead of the oath prescribed by the act of . . . 
[July 2, 1862] . . . , take and subscribe the following oath or 
affirmation: I, A. B., do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will 
support and defend the Constitution of the United States against 
all enemies, foreign and domestic ; that I will bear true faith and 
allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without 
any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will 
well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on \Yhich I am 
about to enter. So help me God. 



r868] EXCLUSION OF ELECTORAL VOTES 535 

No. 160. Joint Resolution excluding Elec- 
toral Votes of the Late Rebellious States 

July 20, 1868 

A JOINT resolution "excluding from the electoral college votes of States 
lately in rebellion which shall not have been reorganized" was introduced in 
the Senate June 2, 1S68, by George F. Edmunds of Vermont, and referred to 
the Committee on the Judiciary. The resolution was reported on the 29th 
with an amendment inserting the clause beginning "nor unless such election 
of electors." The phraseology of the bill rather than its substance was the 
chief occasion of debate. The resolution passed the Senate July 10, by a vote 
of 29 to 5, 23 not voting. The House added the proviso as an amendment, 
and passed the bill on the nth by a vote of 112 to 21, 65 not voting. The 
Senate, by a vote of 19 to 15, concurred. The resolution was vetoed by Presi- 
dent Johnson July 20, and passed over the veto the same day, in the House 
by a vote of 134 to 36, 40 not voting, in the Senate by a vote of 45 to 8. 

References. — Text in U.S. Statutes at Large, XV., 257. For the pro- 
ceedings see the House and Senate Journals, 40th Cong., 2d Sess., and the 
Cong. Globe. 

A Resolution excluding from the Electoral College Votes of States 
lately in Rebellion, which shall not have been reorganized. 

Resolved . . . , That none of the States whose inhabitants 
were lately in rebellion shall be entitled to representation in the 
electoral college for the choice of President or Vice-President of 
the United States, nor shall any electoral votes be received or 
counted from any of such States, unless at the time prescribed by 
law for the choice of electors the people of such States, pursuant 
to the acts of Congress in that behalf, shall have, since . . . 
[March 4, 1867] . . . , adopted a constitution of State government 
under which a State government shall have been organized and 
shall be in operation, nor unless such election of electors shall 
have been held under the authority of such constitution and gov- 
ernment, and such State shall have also become entitled to rep- 
resentation in Congress, pursuant to the acts of Congress in that 
behalf: Provided, That nothing herein contained shall be con- 
strued to apply to any State which was represented in Congress 
on . . . [March 4, 1867] . . . 



530 FOURTEENTH AMENDMENT [July 28 

No. 161. Fourteenth Amendment to the 
Constitution 

July 28, 1868 

Various propositions to amend the Constitution were submitted in both 
House and Senate during the first session of the thirty-ninth Congress. A 
joint resolution embodying the substance of the provisions of the Fourteenth 
Amendment was reported in the House April 30, 1866, by Thaddeus Stevens, 
from the Committee on Reconstruction, together with a bill for admission to 
representation of certain States ratifying the same. May 10 the resolution 
passed the House, the vote being 128 to 37, iS not voting. The third section 
of the House resolution provided that until July 4, 1870, all persons who had 
voluntarily aided the rebellion should be denied the privilege of voting for 
Representatives in Congress or presidential electors. The Senate, by a vote 
of 43 to o, struck out this section, and recast the amendment in the form in 
which it was later submitted. The resolution passed the Senate June 8, by a 
vote of 33 to II. On the 13th the House, by a vote of 138 to 36, 10 not vot- 
ing, concurred. The amendment was rejected by Delaware, Maryland, and 
Kentucky, and was not acted on by California. It was also at first rejected 
by Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, 
Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas, with the result that the ratification of the 
amendment was, by the Reconstruction Act of March 2, 1867, made a condi- 
tion of the restoration of those States. The ratifications of New Jersey and 
Ohio were rescinded by the legislatures of those States. July 20, 1868, a 
proclamation by Seward announced that the amendment had been ratified 
by the legislatures of twenty-three States, and "by newly constituted and 
newly established bodies avowing themselves to be and acting as the legisla- 
tures of" North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, and 
Arkansas; and that if the ratifications of New Jersey and Ohio "be deemed 
as remaining of full force and effect," the amendment was in force. There- 
upon Congress, by resolution of July 21, declared the amendment in force 
and directed its promulgation as such. The final proclamation was issued 
July 28. 

References. — ^ Text in Revised Statutes (ed. 1878), 31. For the proceed- 
ings of Congress see the House and Senate Journals, 39th Cong., and 40th 
Cong., ist and 2d Sess., and the Cong. Globe. The various proclamations are 
in U.S. Statutes at Large, XV. For some early proposals see McPherson, 
Reconstruction, 103. See also Guthrie, Fourteenth Amendment; Slaughtet 
House Cases, 16 Wallace, 36; Johnson's message of June 22, 1866. Man} 
disabilities under the amendment were removed by special acts; for the gen- 
eral act of May 22, 1872, see No. 173, post. • 



1868] FOURTEENTH AMENDMENT 537 



Article XIV. 

Sec. I. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, 
and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United 
States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall 
make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or 
immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State 
deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due pro- 
cess of law ; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal 
protection of the laws. 

Sec. 2. Representatives shall be apportioned among the sev- 
eral States according to their respective numbers, counting the 
whole number of persons in each State, excluding Indians not 
taxed. But when the right to vote at any election for the choice 
of electors for President and Vice-President of the United States, 
Representatives in Congress, the Executive and Judicial officers 
of a State, or the members of the Legislature thereof, is denied 
to any of the male inhabitants of such State, being twenty-one 
years of age, and citizens of the United States, or in any way 
abridged, except for participation in rebellion, or other crime, 
the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the pro- 
portion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to 
the whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in 
such State. 

Sec. 3. No person shall be a Senator or Representative in 
Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold 
any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under 
any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member 
• of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a' mem- 
ber of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer 
of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, 
shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, 
or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress 
may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability. 

Sec. 4. The vaUdity of the public debt of the United States, 
authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pen- 
sions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or 
rebellion, shall not be questioned. But neither the United States 



538 VIRGINIA, TEXAS, AND MISSISSIPPI [Feb. 18 

nor any State shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred 
in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or 
any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave ; but all such 
debts, obligations and claims shall be held illegal and void. 

Sec. 5. The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appro- 
priate legislation, the provisions of this article. 



No. 162. Provisional Governments of Vir- 
ginia, Texas, and Mississippi 

February 18, 1869 

A JOINT resolution for the removal of certain civil officers in Virginia and 
Texas was introduced in the Senate July 24, 1868, and passed the same day. 
The bill was not taken up in the House until December 10; it was then re- 
ferred to the Committee on Reconstruction, which reported it January 18, 
1869, with an amendment, the amendment being the first two provisos of 
the act. The same day the bill passed the House. The Senate added the 
proviso including Mississippi, in which the House concurred. The resolu- 
tion became law under the ten days rule. 

References. — Text in U.S. Statutes at Large, XV., 344. For the pro- 
ceedings see the House and Senate Journals, 40th Cong., 2d and 3d Sess., 
and the Cong. Globe. The debate was unimportant. 

A Resolution respecting the provisional Governments of Virginia 

and Texas. 

Resolved . . . , That the persons now holding civil offices in 
the pcpvisional governments of Virginia and Texas, who can- 
not take and subscribe the oath prescribed by the act . . . [of 
July 2, 1862] . . . , shall, on the passage of this resolution, be 
removed therefrom; and it shall be the duty of the district com- 
manders to lill the vacancies so -created by the appointment of 
persons who can take said oath: Provided, That the provisions 
of this resolution shall not apply to persons who by reason of the 
removal of their disabiUties as provided in the fourteenth amend- 
ment to the Constitution shall have qualified for any office in pur- 
suance of the act . . . [of July 11, 1868] . . . : And provided 
further, That this resolution shall not take effect until thirty days 



1869] PUBLIC CREDIT 539 

from and after its passage: And it is further provided, That this 
resolution shall be, and is hereby extended to, and made applicable 
to the State of Mississippi. 



No. 163. Act to strengthen the Public 
Credit 

March 18, 1869 

A BILL "to strengthen the public credit, and relating to contracts for the 
payment of coin," was introduced in the House January 20, 1869, by Schenck 
of Ohio, and referred to the Committee of Ways and Means. The bill was 
taken up February 24, and passed the same day by a vote of 121 to 60, 41 not 
voting. On the 27th the bill passed the Senate, but was disposed of by a 
"pocket" veto. The second section of the bill legalized contracts for pay- 
ments in coin. The same bill was again introduced by Schenck March 12, 
and passed the House the same day by a vote of 93 to 48, 52 not voting. A 
bill of somewhat different character had been introduced in the Senate 
March 9. On the 15th the Senate bill was laid aside, and the House bill, 
without the second section, passed, the final vote being 42 to 13. 

References. — Text in U.S. Statutes at Large, XVI., i. For the pro- 
ceedings see the House and Senate Journals, 40th Cong., 3d Sess., and 41st 
Cong., ist Sess., and the Cong. Globe. 

An Act to strengthen the public Credit. 

Be it enacted . . . , That in order to remove any doubt as to 
the purpose of the government to discharge all just obligations 
to the public creditors, and to settle conflicting questions and 
interpretations of the laws by virtue of which such obligations 
have been contracted, it is hereby provided and declared fhat 
the faith of the United States is solemnly pledged to the pay- 
ment in coin or its equivalent of all the obligations of the United 
States not bearing interest, known as United States notes, and of 
all the interest-bearing obligations of the United States, except 
in cases where the law authorizing the issue of any such obligation 
has expressly provided that the same may be paid in lawful money 
or other currency than gold and silver. But none of said interest- 
bearing obligations not already due shall be redeemed or paid 
before maturity unless at such time United States notes shall be 



540 VIRGINIA, MISSISSIPPI, AND TEXAS [AprO lo 

convertible into coin at the option of the holder, or unless at such 
time bonds of the United States bearing a lower rate of interest 
than the bonds to be redeemed can be sold at par in coin. And the 
United States also solemnly pledges its faith to make provision at 
the earliest practicable period for the redemption of the United 
States notes in coin. 



No. 164. Submission of the Constitutions 
of Virginia, Mississippi, and Texas 

April 10, i86g 

In a message of April 7, 1869, President Grant recommended that provi- 
sion be made for a vote in Virginia on the State constitution agreed upon by 
a convention April 17, 1868, and for the election of State officers, the State 
to be restored on the approval of the constitution by Congress. He further 
raised the question whether the rejected constitution of Mississippi should not 
be resubmitted. A bill to give effect to this recommendation, and including 
Texas, was reported in the House the next day from the Committee on Re- 
construction, and passed with amendments by a vote of 125 to 25, 47 not vot- 
ing. The Senate, by a vote of 30 to 20, added the provision of section 6 of 
the act, together with other amendments. The final vote in the Senate was 
44 to 9. The House, under suspension of the rules, concurred in the Senate 
amendments, the vote being 108 to 39, 54 not voting. Proclamations submit- 
ting the constitutions of the States to the voters were issued, for Virginia, May 
14, for Mississippi, July 13, and for Texas, July 15. 

References. — Text in U.S. Statutes at Large, XVI., 40, 41. For the 
proceedings see the House and Senate Journals, 41st Cong., ist Sess., and the 
Cong. Globe. The bill reported April 8 is in the Globe. On Canby's course 
in Virginia see Senate Exec. Doc. 13, 41st Cong., 2d Sess. On conditions in 
Virginia see Senate Exec. Doc. 13, 41st Cong., 2d Sess.; in Texas, House 
Misc. Docs. 57 and 127, and Senate Misc. Doc. 109, 40th Cong., 2d Sess. 

An Act aitthorizing the Submission of the Constitutions of Vir- 
ginia, Mississippi, and Texas, to a Vote of the People, and 
authorizing the Election of State Officers, provided by the said 
Constitutions, and Members of Congress. 

Be it enacted . . . , That the President of the United States, at 
such time as he may deem best for the public interest, may sub- 
mit the constitution which was framed by the convention which 



1869] VIRGINIA, MISSISSIPPI, AND TEXAS 541 

met in Richmond, Virginia, on Tuesday, . . . [December 3, 
1867] . . . , to the voters of said State, registered at the date of said 
submission, for ratification or rejection ; and may also submit to a 
separate vote such provisions of said constitution as he may deem 
best, such vote to be taken either upon each of the said provisions 
alone, or in connection with the other portions of said constitution, 
as the President may direct. 

Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That at the same election 
the voters of said State may vote for and elect members of the 
general assembly of said State, and all the officers of said State 
provided for by the said constitution, and members of Congress; 
and the officer commanding the district of Virginia shall cause 
the lists of registered voters of said State to be revised, enlarged, 
and corrected prior to such election, according to law^, and for 
that purpose may appoint such registrars as he may deem nec- 
essary. And said elections shall be held and returns thereof 
made in the manner provided by the acts of Congress commonly 
called the reconstruction acts. 

Sec. 3. [Similar provisions for Texas]; Provided, also, That 
no election shall be held in said State of Texas for any purpose 
until the President so directs. 

Sec. 4. [Similar provisions for Mississippi.] 

Sec. 5. And be it further enacted. That if either of said con- 
stitutions shall be ratified at such election, the legislature of the 
State so ratifying, elected as provided for in this act, shall assemble 
at the capital of said State on the fourth Tuesday after the official 
promulgation of such ratification by the military officer com- 
manding in said State. 

Sec. 6. And be it further enacted. That before the States of 
Virginia, Mississippi, and Texas shall be admitted to representa- 
tion in Congress, their several legislatures, which may be here- 
after lawfully organized, shall ratify the fifteenth article, which 
has been proposed by Congress to the several States as an amend- 
ment to the Constitution of the United States. 

Sec. 7. And be it further enacted, That the proceedings in 
any of said States shall not be deemed final or operate as a com- 
plete restoration thereof, until their action, respectively, shall be 
approved by Congress. 



542 RECONSTRUCTION OF GEORGIA [Dec. 



No. 165. Reconstruction of Georgia 

December 22, 1869 

A BILL "to enforce the fourteenth amendment to the Constitution and the 
laws of the United States in the State of Georgia, and to restore to that State 
the republican form of government elected under its new constitution," was 
introduced in the Senate March 5, 1869, by Edmunds of Vermont, and re- 
ferred to the Committee on the Judiciary. The bill was reported with an 
amendment on the 17th, but without recommendation as to its passage, the 
committee being equally divided on that point. A bill with the same title 
was reported in the House April 7, from the Committee on Reconstruction. 
There was no further action on either bill during the session. A concurrent 
resolution of February 9 had provided, in the meantime, for the recognition 
of the electoral vote of Georgia. In his annual message of December 6, 
President Grant called attention to the unseating of colored members of the 
legislature of Georgia and the .seating of persons disqualified bv the fourteenth 
amendment, and submitted "whether it would not be wise, without delay, to 
enact a law authorizing the governor of Georgia to convene the members 
originally elected to the legislature, requiring each member to take the oath 
prescribed by the reconstruction acts, and none to be admitted who are in- 
eligible under the third clause of the fourteenth amendment." The Edmunds 
bill was thereupon called up, and, together with a bill on the same subject in- 
troduced by Oliver P. Morton of Indiana, referred to the Committee on the 
Judiciary. December 13 the committee reported the Morton bill. On the 
17th, by a vote of 38 to 15, section 8, "that the legislature of Georgia shall be 
regarded as provisional only, until the further action of Congress," was 
stricken out, and section 8 of the act inserted. The bill then passed, the vote 
being 45 to 9. The House passed the bill on the 21st by a vote of 121 to 51, 
39 not voting. 

References. — Text in U.S. Statutes at Large, XVI., 59, 60. For the 
proceedings see the House and Senate Journals, 41st Cong., ist and 2d Sess., 
and the Cong. Globe. On political conditions in Georgia see House Misc. 
Doc. 52, 40th Cong., 3d Sess. ; House Exec. Doc. 82, Senate Exec. Docs. 3 and 
41, Senate Reports 58 and 75, 41st Cong., 2d Sess. 

An Act to promote the Reconstruction of the State of Georgia. 

Be it enacted . . . , That the governor of the State of Georgia 
be, and hereby is, authorized and directed, forthwith, by procla- 
mation, to summon all persons elected to the general assembly 
of said State, ... to appear on some day certain, to be named in 
said proclamation, at Atlanta, in said State; and thereupon the 
said general assembly of said State shall proceed to perfect its 



1869] RECONSTRUCTION OF GEORGIA 543 

organization in conformity with the Constitution and laws of the 
United States, according to the provisions of this act. 

Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That when the members so 
elected to said senate and house of representatives shall be con- 
vened, as aforesaid, each and every member and each and every 
person claiming to be elected as a member of said senate or house of 
representatives shall, in addition to taking the oath or oaths re- 
quired by the constitution of Georgia, also take and subscribe and 
file in the office of the secretary of state of the State of Georgia 
one of the following oaths or affirmations, namely : " I do solemnly 
swear (or affirm, as the case may be) that I have never held the 
office, or exercised the duties of, a senator or representative in 
Congress, nor been a member of the legislature of any State of the 
United States, nor held any civil office created by law for the ad- 
ministration of any general law of a State, or for the administration 
of justice in any State or under the laws of the United States, nor 
held any office in the military or naval service of the United States, 
and thereafter engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the 
United States, or gave aid or comfort to its enemies, or rendered, 
except in consequence of direct physical force, any support or aid to 
any insurrection or rebellion against the United States, nor held 
any office under, or given any support to, any government of any 
kind organized or acting in hostility to the United States, or levying 
war against the United States. So help me God •.-.." Or the 
following oath or affirmation, namely: "I do solemnly swear 
(or affirm, as the case may be) that I have been relieved, by an 
act of the Congress of the United States, from disability as pro- 
vided for by section three of the fourteenth amendment to the 
Constitution of the United States. So help me God ..." And 
every person claiming to be so elected, who shall refuse or decline 
or neglect or be unable to take one of said oaths or affirmations 
above provided, shall not be adrriitted to a seat in said senate or 
house of representatives, or to a participation in the proceedings 
thereof, but shall be deemed ineligible to such seats. 

******** 

Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That the persons elected, 
as aforesaid, and entitled to compose such 'legislature, and who 
shall comply with the provisions of this act, by taking one of 
the oaths or affirmations above prescribed, shall thereupon pro- 



544 RESTORATION OF VIRGINIA [Jan. 20 

ceed, in said senate and house of representatives to which 
they have been elected respectively, to reorganize said senate 
and house of representatives, respectively, by the election and 
qualification of the proper officers of each house. 

Sec. 6. And be it further enacted, That it is hereby declared 
that the exclusion of any person or persons elected as aforesaid, 
and being otherwise qualified, from participation in the pro- 
ceedings of said senate or house of representatives, upon the 
ground of race, color, or previous condition of servitude, would 
be illegal, and revolutionary, and is hereby prohibited. 

Sec. 7. And be it further enacted, That upon the application 
of the governor of Georgia, the President of the United States 
shall employ such military or naval forces of the United States 
as may be necessary to enforce and execute the preceding pro- 
visions of this act. 

Sec. 8. And be it further enacted, That the legislature shall 
ratify the fifteenth amendment proposed to the Constitution of 
the United States before senators and representatives from 
Georgia are admitted to seats in Congress. 



No. 166. Admission of Virginia to Rep- 
resentation in Congress 

January 26, 1870 

The annual message of President Grant, December 6, 1869, urged the ad- 
mission of Virginia to representation, but stated that the results of the recent 
elections in Mississippi and Texas were not yet known. To the proposition to 
rehabilitate Virginia there was strong opposition, but the wish of the Presi- 
dent prevailed. A bill to give effect to the recommendation was reported 
January 11, 1870, from the Committee on Reconstruction. On the 14th a 
substitute offered by Bingham was agreed to by a vote of 98 to 95, 17 not 
voting, and the bill passed, the final vote being 142 to 49, 19 not voting. The 
Senate added various amendments imposing conditions and restrictions, and 
passed the bill on the 21st by a vote of 47 to 10. On the 24th the House 
concurred in the Senate amendments, the vote being 136 to 58, 16 not vot- 
ing. July 28 the military authority in Virginia ceased. Acts of February 23 
and March 30 provided in similar terms for the restoration of Mississippi 
and Texas, and the military authority in those States was withdrawn. 



t87o] RESTORATION OF VIRGINIA 545 

References. — Text in U.S. Statutes at Large, XVI., 62, 63. For the 
proceedings see the House and Senate Journals, 41st Cong., 2d Sess., and 
the Cong. Globe. 

An Act to admit the State of Virginia to Representation in the 
Congress of the United States. 

Whereas the people of Virginia have framed and adopted 
a constitution of State government which is repubHcan; and 
whereas the legislature of Virginia elected under said constitu- 
tion have ratified the fourteenth and fifteenth amendments to 
the Constitution of the United States; and whereas the per- 
formance of these several acts in good faith was a condition 
precedent to the representation of the State in Congress: 
Therefore, 

Be it enacted . . . , That the said State of Virginia is entitled 
to representation in the Congress of the United States: Pro- 
vided, That before any member of the legislature of said State 
shall take or resume his seat, or any officer of said State shall 
enter upon the duties of his office, he shall take, and subscribe, 
and file in the office of the secretary of state of Virginia, for 
permanent preservation, an oath* in the form following: "I, 

, do solemnly swear that I have never taken an oath 

as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, 
or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or 
judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the 
United States, and afterward engaged in insurrection or rebellion 
against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof, 
so help me God"; or such person shall in like manner take, 

subscribe, and file the following oath: ."I, , do solemnly 

swear that I have, by act of Congress of the United States, been 
relieved from the disabilities imposed upon me by the fourteenth 
amendment of the Constitution of the United States, so help 
me God"; . . . And provided further, That every such person 
who shall neglect for the period of thirty days next after the 
passage of this act to take, subscribe, and file such oath as 
aforesaid, shall be deemed and taken, to all intents and pur- 
poses, to have vacated his oflace: And provided further, That 

* An amending act of February i, 1870, provided for the usual aUernative of 
afl&rmation. — Ed. 



546 FIFTEENTH AMENDMENT [March 3c 

the State of Virginia is admitted to representation in Congress 
as one of the States of the Union upon the following funda- 
mental conditions: First, That the Constitution of Virginia 
shall never be so amended or changed as to deprive any citizen 
or class of citizens of the United States of the right to vote 
who are entitled to vote by the Constitution herein recognized, 
except as a punishment for such crimes as are now felonies 
at common law, whereof they shall have been duly convicted 
under laws equally applicable to all the inhabitants of said 
State: Provided, That any alteration of said Constitution, pro- 
spective in its effects, may be made in regard to the time and 
place of residence of voters. Second, That it shall never be 
lawful for the said State to deprive any citizen of the United 
States, on account of his race, color, or previous condition of 
servitude, of the right to hold office under the constitution and 
laws of said State, or upon any such ground to require of him 
any other qualifications for office than such as are required oi 
all other citizens. Third, That the constitution of Virginia 
shall never be so amended or changed as to deprive any 
citizen or class of citizens of the United States of the school 
rights and privileges secured by the constitution of said State. 



No. 167. Fifteenth Amendment to the Con- 
stitution 

March 30, 1870 

"The evident and complete inefficacy of the second section of the [four- 
teenth] amendment was the reason for the introduction of the fifteenth 
amendment" (Johnston). As in the case of the previous amendments, vari- 
ous propositions were submitted, while the discussion of the political and 
constitutional theories embodied in the proposed amendment took a wide 
range. February 17, 1869, the Senate, after long debate, passed, by a vote of 
35 to II, a joint resolution for the submission of an amendment to the Consti- 
tution reported from the Committee on the Judiciary January 15. February 
20 the resolution in amended form passed the House, the vote being 140 to 37, 
46 not voting. The Senate, by a vote of 32 to 17, disagreed to the House 
amendment. The conference committee rejected the amendment of the 
House and agreed to the Senate resolution, except the words "and to hold 
office," in section i. The amendmen, was rejected by New Jersey, Dela- 



1870] ACT TO ENFORCE FIFTEENTH AMENDMENT 547 

ware, Maryland, Kentucky, Oregon, and California, and was not acted on by 
Tennessee. Georgia and Ohio at first rejected it, but subsequently ratified 
it. The ratification of New York was later rescinded. A proclamation de- 
claring the amendment in force was issued March 30, 1870. 

References. — Text in Revised Statutes (ed. 1878), 32. For the pro- 
ceedings of Congress see the House and Senate Journals, 40th Cong., 2d 
Sess., and the Cong. Globe. Votes of State legislatures on ratification are 
collected in McPherson, Reconstruction, 488-498, 557-562. 

Article XV. 

Section i. The right of citizens of the United States to vote 
shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any 
State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. 

Section 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this 
article by appropriate legislation. 



No. 168. Act to enforce the Fifteenth 
Amendment 

May 31, 1870 

A BILL to enforce the righlCof citizens of the United States to vote was in- 
troduced in the House February 21, 1870, by Bingham of Ohio, and referred 
to the Committee on the Judiciary. May 9 a substitute was reported and 
the bill recommitted. The substitute measure was again reported May 16, 
and passed the same day, the vote being 131 to 43, 54 not voting. May 20 
the Senate, after an all-night session, passed a substitute by a vote of 43 to 8, 
21 not voting. The House disagreed to the Senate amendment, and a con- 
ference committee settled the final form of the bill. The report of the con- 
ference committee was agreed to by the Senate on the 25th by a vote of 48 to 
II, and by the House on the 27th by a vote of 133 to 58, 39 not voting. 

References. — Text in U.S. Statutes at Large, XVI., 140-146. For the 
proceedings see the House and Senate Journals, 41st Cong., 2d Sess., and the 
Cong. Globe. The House substitute of May 9 is in the Globe for May 16; 
the text of the Senate bill is in ibid., May 20. .Part of the act followed a re- 
port on New York election frauds, House Report 31, 40th Cong., 3d Sess. 
On general political conditions in the South see Jlouse Report 37, 41st Cong., 
3d Sess.; Senate Report i, 42d Cong., ist Sess.; House Exec. Doc. 268, 42d 
Cong., 2d Sess.; House Reports loi and 261, 43d Cong., 2d Sess. The Con- 
gressional documents contain numerous reports on affairs in the different 
States. 



548 ACT TO ENFORCE FIFTEENTH AMENDMENT [May 31 

An Act to enforce the Right of Citizens of the United States to 
vote in the several States of this Union, and for other purposes. 

Be it enacted . . . , That all citizens of the United States who 
are or shall be otherwise qualified by law to vote at any election 
by the people in any State, Territory, district, county, city, par- 
ish, township, school district, municipality, or other territorial 
subdivision, shall be entitled and allowed to vote at all such 
elections, without distinction of race, color, or previous con- 
dition of servitude; any constitution, law, custom, usage, or 
regulation of any State or Territory, or by or under its author- 
ity, to the contrary notwithstanding. 

Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That if by or under the 
authority of the constitution or laws of any State, or the laws 
of any Territory, any act is or shall be required to be done as 
a prerequisite or qualification for voting, and by such constitu- 
tion or laws persons or officers are or shall be charged with 
the performance of duties in furnishing to citizens an opportu- 
nity to perform such prerequisite, or to become qualified to vote, 
it shall be the duty of every such person and officer to give to 
all citizens of the United States the same and equal opportunity 
to perform such prerequisite, and to become qualified to vote 
without distinction of race, color, or previous condition of 
servitude ; [penalty for refusal]. '^ 

Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That if any person, by 
force, bribery, threats, intimidation, or other unlawful means, 
shall hinder, delay, prevent, or obstruct, or shall combine and 
confederate with others to hinder, . . . [ &c.], any citizen from 
doing any act required to be done to qualify him to vote or from 
voting at any election as aforesaid, such person shall for every 
such offence forfeit and pay the sum of five hundred dollars to 
the person aggrieved thereby, . . . and shall also for every such 
offence be guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall, on conviction 
thereof, be fined not less than five hundred dollars, or be im- 
prisoned not less than one month and not more than one year, 
or both, at the discretion of the court. 

Sec. 5. And be it further enacted, That if any person shall 
prevent, hinder, control, or intimidate, or shall attempt to pre- 



1870] ACT TO ENFORCE FIFTEENTH AMENDMENT 549 

vent . . . [&c.], any person from exercising or in exercising the 
right of suffrage, to whom the right of suffrage is secured or 
guaranteed by the fifteenth amendment to the Constitution of 
the United States, by means of bribery, threats, or threats of 
depriving such person of employment or occupation, or of eject- 
ing such person from rented house, lands, or other property, or 
by threats of refusing to renew leases or contracts for labor, or 
by threats of violence to himself or family, such person so offend- 
ing shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall, on con- 
viction thereof, be fined not less than five hundred dollars, or be 
imprisoned not less than one month and not more than one year, 
or both, at the discretion of the court. 

Sec. 6. And be it further enacted, That if two or more per- 
sons shall band or conspire together, or go in disguise upon the 
public highway, or upon the premises of another, with intent to 
violate any provision of this act, or to injure, oppress, threaten, 
or intimidate any citizen with intent to prevent or hinder his 
free exercise and enjoyment of any right or privilege granted 
or secured to him by the Constitution or laws of the United 
States, or because of his having exercised the same, such per- 
sons shall be held guilty of felony, and, on conviction thereof, 
shall be fined or imprisoned, or both, at the discretion of the 
court, — the fine not to exceed five thousand dollars, and the 
imprisonment not to exceed ten years, — and shall, moreover, 
be thereafter ineligible to, and disabled from holding, any office 
or place of honor, profit, or trust created by the Constitution or 
laws of the United States. 

******** 

Sec. 13. And be it further enacted, That it shall be lawful for 
the President of the United States to employ such part of the 
land or naval forces of the United States, or of the militia, as 
shall be necessary to aid in the execution of judicial process 
issued under this act. 

******** 

Sec. 15. And be it further enacted. That any person who shall 
hereafter knowingly accept or hold any office under the United 
States, or any State to which he is ineligible under the third 
section of the fourteenth article of amendment of the Constitu- 
tion of the United States, or who shall attempt to hold or exer- 



550 ACT TO ENFORCE FIFTEENTH AMENDMENT [May 31 

cise the duties of any such office, shall be deemed guilty of a 
misdemeanor against the United States, and, upon conviction 
thereof before the circuit or district court of the United States, 
shall be imprisoned not more than one year, or fined not exceed- 
ing one thousand dollars, or both, at the discretion of the court. 
Sec. 16. And be it further enacted, That all persons within 
the jurisdiction of the United States shall have the same right 
in every State and Territory in the United States to make and 
enforce contracts, to sue, be parties, give evidence, and to the 
full and equal benefit of all laws and proceedings for the security 
of person and property as is enjoyed by white citizens, and shall 
be subject to like punishment, pains, penalties, taxes, licenses, 
and exactions of every kind, and none other, any law, statute, 
ordinance, regulation, or custom to the contrary notwithstand- 
ing. . . . 

Sec. 18. [The Civil Rights Act of 1866 reenacted.] 
Sec. 19. And be it further enacted, That if at any election 
for representative or delegate in the Congress of the United 
States any person shall knowingly personate and vote, or 
attempt to vote, in the name of any other person, whether 
living, dead, or fictitious; or vote more than once at the same 
election for any candidate for the same office; or vote at a 
place where he may not be lawfully entitled to vote; or vote 
without having a lawful right to vote; or do any unlawful act 
to secure a right or an opportunity to vote for himself or any 
other person; or by force, threat, menace, intimidation, bribery, 
reward, or offer, or promise thereof, or otherwise unlawfully 
prevent any qualified voter of any State of the United States of 
America, or of any Territory thereof, from freely exercising the 
right of suffrage, or by any such means induce any voter to 
refuse to exercise such right; or compel or induce by any such 
means, or otherwise, any officer of an election in any such State 
or Territory to receive a vote from a person not legally qualified 
or entitled to vote; or interfere in any manner with any officer 
of said elections in the discharge of his duties; or by any of 
such means, or other unlawful means, induce any officer of an 
election, or officer whose duty it is to ascertain, announce, or 
declare the result of any such election, or give or make aiiy 



1870] REFUNDING THE NATIONAL DEBT 551 

certificate, document, or evidence in relation thereto, to violate 
or refuse to comply with his duty, or any law regulating the 
same; or knowingly and wilfully receive the vote of any person 
not entitled to vote, or refuse to receive the vote of any person 
entitled to vote; or aid, counsel, procure, or advise any such 
voter, person, or officer to do any act hereby made a crime, or 
to omit to do any duty the omission of which is hereby made a 
crime, or attempt to do so, every such person shall be deemed 
guilty of a crime, and shall. for such crime be hable to prosecu- 
tion in any court of the United States of competent jurisdiction, 
and, on conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine not 
exceeding five hundred dollars, or by imprisonment for a term 
not exceeding three years, or both, in the discretion of the 
court, and shall pay the costs of prosecution. 

******** 



No. 169. Act for Refunding the National 

Debt 

July 14, 1870 

In his annual report of December 6, 1869, the Secretary of the Treasury 
called attention to the fact that the bonds known as 5-20's, amounting to 
$1,602,671,100, were either redeemable or soon to become redeemable. A bill 
to provide for refunding the national debt was introduced in the Senate by 
Sumner January 12, 1870, and referred to the Committee on Finance, which 
reported February 3, through Sherman, a substitute. The matter formed one 
of the principal subjects of discussion for the remainder of the session. The 
substitute bill with amendments passed the Senate March 11, by a vote of 32 
to 10. The House left the bill without action until July i, when a substitute 
reported by Schenck, from the Committee of Ways and Means, was agreed to, 
the final vote being 129 to 42, 58 not voting. The chief difference between 
the two bills was in the character of the bonds to be issued. The Senate 
refused to accept the substitute of the House. A report of a conference com- 
mittee, July 1 2, being the act as approved with an additional section requiring 
the deposit of registered bonds as security for bank circulation, was rejected 
by the House by a vote of 88 to 103. A second report was agreed to the 
next day, in the House by a vote of 139 to 54, 37 not voting, and in the Senate 
without a division. An amending act of January 20, 187 1, increased the 
amount of five per cent bonds to $500,000,000, but without increasing the 
total issue. 



552 REFUNDING THE NATIONAL DEBT [July 14 

References. — • Text in U.S. Statutes at Large, XVI., 272-274. For the 
proceedings see the House and Senate Journals, 41st Cong., 2d Sess., and the 
Cong. Globe. On Sumner's bill see his remarks in the Globe, January 12; on 
the Senate substitute, Sherman's remarks, ibid., February 28, and Senate 
Report 4. Cf. Sherman's strictures on the act in his Recollections, I, 451-458. 

An Act to authorize the Refunding of the national Debt. 

Be it enacted . . . , That the Secretary of the Treasury is 
hereby authorized to issue, in a sum or sums not exceeding in 
the aggregate two hundred miUion dollars, coupon or registered 
bonds of the United States, in such form as he may prescribe,' 
and of denominations of fifty dollars, or some multiple of that 
sum, redeemable in coin of the present standard value, at the 
pleasure of the United States, after ten years from the date of 
their issue, and bearing interest, payable semiannually in such 
coin, at the rate of five per cent, per annum ; also a sum or sums 
not exceeding in the aggregate three hundred million dollars of 
like bonds, the same in all respects, but payable at the pleasure 
of the United States, after fifteen years from the date of their 
issue, and bearing interest at the rate of four and a half per 
cent, per annum; also a sum or sums not exceeding in the 
aggregate one thousand million dollars of like bonds, the same 
in all respects, but payable at the pleasure of the United States, 
after thirty years from the date of their issue, and bearing in- 
terest at the rate of four per cent, per annum; all of which said 
several classes of bonds and the interest thereon shall be exempt 
from the payment of all taxes or duties of the United States, as 
well as from taxation in any form by or under State, municipal, 
or local authority. . . . 

Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That the Secretary of the 
Treasury is hereby authorized to sell and dispose of any of the 
bonds issued under this act, at not less than their par value for 
coin, and to apply the proceeds thereof to the redemption of 
any of the bonds of the United States outstanding, and known 
as five-twenty bonds, at their par value, or he may exchange 
the same for such five-twenty bonds, par for par; but the bonds 
hereby authorized shall be used for no other purpose whatso- 
ever. . . . 



1870] RESTORATION OF GEORGIA 553 

Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That the Secretary of the 
Treasury is hereby authorized, with any coin in the treasury of 
the United States which he may lawfully apply to such purpose, 
or which may be derived from the sale of any of the bonds, the 
issue of which is provided for in this act, to pay at par and 
cancel any six per cent, bonds of the United States of the kind 
known as five-twenty bonds, which have become or shall here- 
after become redeemable by the terms of their issue. . . . 



No. 170. Act for the Restoration of 
Georgia 

July 15, 1870 

A BILL for the restoration of Georgia, similar in purport to the acts for the 
restoration of Mississippi and Texas, was reported in the House February 25, 
1870, by Butler of Massachusetts, from the Committee on Reconstruction, and 
passed, March 8, by a vote of 115 to 71, 34 not voting. The Senate added 
section 2 of the act, and further amendments declaring the existing govern- 
ment of the State provisional, directing the holding of a new election, and 
authorizing the President to suppress disorder. The amended bill passed the 
Senate April 19, by a vote of 27 to 25. The bill was left without further 
action until June 24, when the House Committee on Reconstruction reported 
in favor of the passage of the House bill with amendments. The Senate 
refused to concur, and the final form of the bill was settled by a conference 
committee. The report of the committee was accepted by both houses 
July 14, without a division. 

References. — Text in U.S. Statutes at Large, XVI., 363, 364. For the 
proceedings see the House and Senate Journals, 41st Cong., 2d Sess., and the 
Cong. Globe. On political conditions in Georgia see House Exec. Doc. 288. 

An Act relating to the State of Georgia. 

Be it enacted . . . , That the State of Georgia having complied 
with the reconstruction acts, and the fourteenth and fifteenth 
articles of amendments to the Constitution of the United States 
having been ratified in good faith by a legal legislature of said 
State, it is hereby declared that the State of Georgia is entitled 
to representation in the Congress of the United States. But 



554 ACT TO ENFORCE FIFTEENTH AMENDMENT [Feb. 2b 

nothing in this act contained shall be construed to deprive the 
people of Georgia of the right to ?n election for members of 
the general assembly of said State, as provided for in the 
Constitution thereof; and nothing in this or any other act of 
Congress shall be construed to affect the term to which any 
officer has been appointed or any member of the general assem- 
bly elected as prescribed by the Constitution of the State of 
Georgia. 



No. 171. Supplementary Act to enforce 
the Fifteenth Amendment 

February 28, 1871 

A BILL to amend the act of May 31, 1870, commonly known as the "Force 
Bill," was introduced in the House January 9, 1871, by John C. Churchill of 
New York, and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. February 15 a 
substitute offered by Bingham of Ohio was agreed to with amendments, and 
the bill passed, the final vote being 144 to 64, 32 not voting. The Senate 
passed the bill on the 24th without amendment by a vote of 39 to 10, 25 not 
voting. The act was further supplemented by a provision of the sundry civil 
appropriation act of June 10, 1872. 

References. — Text in U.S. Statutes at Large, XVI., 433-440. For the 
proceedings see the House and Senate Journals, 41st Cong., 3d Sess., and the 
Cong. Globe. The amendatory provision of the act of June 10, 1872, is in 
MacDonald's Select Statutes, No. 95. 

An Act to amend an Act approved . . . [May 31, 1870] . . . , 
entitled "An Act to enforce the Rights of Citizens of the United 
States to vote in the several States of this Union, and for other 
Ptirposes." 

Be it enacted . . . , [Section i amends Section 20 of the act of 
May 31, 1870]. 

Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That whenever in any city 
or town having upward of twenty thousand inhabitants, there 
shall be two citizens thereof who, prior to any registration of 
voters for an election for representative or delegate in the Con- 
gress of the United States, or prior to any election at which a 



1871] ACT TO ENFORCE FIFTEENTH AMENDMENT 555 

representative or delegate in Congress is to be voted for, shall 
make known, in writing, to the judge of the circuit court of the 
United States for the circuit wherein such city or town shall be, 
their desire to have said registration, or said election, or both, 
guarded and scrutinized, it shall be the duty of the said judge 
of the circuit court, within not less than ten days prior to said 
registration, if one there be, or, if no registration be required, 
within not less than ten days prior to said election, to open the 
said circuit court at the most convenient point in said circuit. 
And the said court, when so opened by said judge, shall proceed 
to appoint and commission, from day to day and from time to 
time, and under the hand of the said circuit judge, and under the 
seal of said court, for each election district or voting precinct 
in each and every such city or town as shall, in the manner 
herein prescribed, have applied therefor, and to revoke, change, 
or renew said appointment from time to time, two citizens, resi- 
dents of said city or town, who shall be of different political 
parties, and able to read and write the English language, and 
who shall be known and designated as supervisors of election. 
And the said circuit court, when opened by the said circuit judge 
as required herein, shall therefrom and thereafter, and up to 
and including the day following the day of election, be always 
open for the transaction of business under this act, and the 
powers and jurisdiction hereby granted and conferred shall be 
exercised as well in vacation as in term time; and a judge sit- 
ting at chambers shall have the same powers and jurisdiction, 
including the power of keeping order and of punishing any 
contempt of his authority, as when sitting in court. 

Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of 
the supervisors of election, appointed under this act, ... to at- 
tend at all times and places fixed for the registration of voters, 
who, being registered, would be entitled to vote for a representa- 
tive or delegate in Congress, and to challenge any person offering 
to register; to attend at all times and places when the names of 
registered voters may be marked for challenge, and to cause 
such names registered as they shall deem proper to be so 
marked; to make, when required, the lists, or either of them, 
provided for in section thirteen of this act, and verify the same; 



556 ACT TO ENFORCE FIFTEENTH AMENDMENT [Feb. 28 

and upon any occasion, and at any time when in attendance 
under the provisions of this act, to personally inspect and scru- 
tinize such registry, and for purposes of identification to affix 
their or his signature to each and every page of the original 
list, and of each and every copy of any such list of registered 
voters, at such times, upon each day when any name may or 
shall be received, entered, or registered, and in such manner as 
will, in their or his judgment, detect and expose the improper 
or wrongful removal therefrom, or addition thereto, in any way, 
of any name or names. 

Sec. 5. And be it further enacted, That it shall also be the 
duty of the said supervisors of election, ... to attend at all times 
and places for holding elections of representatives or delegates 
in Congress, and for counting the votes cast at said elections; 
to challenge any vote offered by any person whose legal qualifi- 
cations the supervisors, or either of them, shall doubt; to be 
and remain where the ballot-boxes are kept at all times after the 
polls are open until each and every vote cast at said time and 
place shall be counted, the canvass of all votes polled be wholly 
completed, and the proper and requisite certificates or returns 
made, whether said certificates or returns be required under any 
law of the United States, or any State, territorial, or municipal 
law, and to personally inspect and scrutinize, from time to time, 
and at all times, on the day of election, the manner in which the 
voting is done, and the way and method in which the poll- 
books, registry-lists, and tallies or check-books, whether the 
same are required by any law of the United States, or any State, 
territorial, or municipal law, are kept; and to the end that each 
candidate for the office of representative or delegate in Congress 
shall obtain the benefit of every vote for him cast, the said su- 
pervisors of election are, and each of them is, hereby required, 
in their or his respective election districts or voting precincts, to 
personally scrutinize, count, and canvass each and every ballot 
in their or his election district or voting precinct cast, whatever 
may be the indorsement on said ballot, or in whatever box it 
may have been placed or be found; to make and forward to the 
officer who, in accordance with the provisions of section thirteen 
of this act, shall have been designated as the chief supervisor of 
the judicial district in which the city or town wherein they or he 



1871] ACT TO ENFORCE FIFTEENTH AMENDMENT 557 

shall serve shall be, such certificates and returns of all such 
ballots as said officer may direct and require, and to attach to 
the registry list, and any and all copies thereof, and to any cer- 
tificate, statement, or return, whether the same, or any part or 
portion thereof, be required by any law of the United States, or 
of any State, territorial, or municipal law, any statement touch- 
ing the truth or accuracy of the registry, or the truth or fairness 
of the election and canvass, which the said supervisors of elec- 
tion, or either of them, may desire to make or attach, or which 
should properly and honestly be made or attached, in order that 
the facts may become known, any law of any State or Territory 
to the contrary notwithstanding. 

Sec. 6. And be it further enacted, That the better to enable 
the said supervisors of election to discharge their duties, they 
are, and each of them is, hereby authorized and directed, in 
their or his respective election districts or voting precincts, on 
the day or days of registration, on the day or days when regis- 
tered voters may be marked to be challenged, and on the day 
or days of election, to take, occupy, and remain in such position 
or positions, from time to time, whether before or behind the 
ballot-boxes, as will, in their judgment, best enable them or him 
to see each person offering himself for registration or offering 
to vote, and as will best conduce to their or his scrutinizing the 
manner in which the registration or voting is being conducted; 
and at the closing of the polls for the reception of votes, they 
are, and each of them is, hereby required to place themselves or 
himself in such position in relation to the ballot-boxes for the 
purpose of engaging in the work of canvassing the ballots in 
said boxes contained as will enable them or him to fully perform 
the duties in respect to such canvass provided in this act, and 
shall there remain until every duty in respect to such canvass, 
certificates, returns, and statements shall have been wholly com- 
pleted, any law of any State or Territory to the contrary not- 
withstanding. 

******** 

Sec. 8. And be it further enacted, That whenever an election 
at which representatives or delegates in Congress are to be 
chosen shall be held in any city or town of twenty thousand 
inhabitants or upward, the marshal of the United States for 



558 ACT TO ENFORCE FIFTEENTH .\2^IENDMENT [Feb. 28 

the district in which said city or town is situated shall have 
power, and it shall be his duty, on the application, in writing, 
of at least two citizens residing in any such city or town, to 
appoint special deputy marshals, whose duty it shall be, when 
required as pro\-ided in this act, to aid and assist the supen-isors 
of election in the verification of any list of persons made under 
the proWsions of this act, who may have registered, or voted, or 
either; to attend in each election district or voting precinct at 
the times and places fixed for the registration of voters, and at 
all times and places when and where said registration may by 
law be scrutinized, and the names of registered voters be marked 
for challenge; and also to attend, at all times for holding such 
elections, the polls of the election in such district or precinct. 
And the marshal and his general deputies, and such special 
deputies, shall have power, and it shall be the duty of such 
special deputies, to keep the peace, and support and protect the 
supen-isors of elections in the discharge of their duties, pre- 
sene order at such places of registration and at such polls, 
prevent fraudulent registration and fraudulent voting thereat, 
or fraudulent conduct on the part of any officer of election, and 
immediately, either at said place of registration or poUing-place, 
or elsewhere, and either before or after registering or voting, 
to arrest and take into custody, with or without process, any 
person who shall commit, or attempt or offer to commit, anv of 
the acts or offences prohibited by this act, or the act hereby 
amended, or who shall commit any offence against the laws 
of the United States. . . . 

* * * ^ ^ * ^ :*: 

Sec. 10. And be it further enacted, That whoever, with or 
without any authority, power, or process, or pretended author- 
ity, power, or process, of any State, territorial, or municipal 
authority, shall obstruct, hinder, assault, or by briber}-, sohci- 
tation, or otherwise, interfere with or prevent the supen-isors 
of election, or either of them, or the marshal or his general or 
special deputies, or either of them, in the performance of any 
duty required of them, or either of them, or which he or they, 
or either of them, may be authorized to perform by any law of 
the United States, whether in the execution of process or other- 
wise, or shall bv anv of the means before mentioned hinder or 



1871] ACT TO ENFORCE FIFTEENTH AMENDMENT 559 

prevent the free attendance and presence at such places of 
registration or at such polls of election, or full and free access 
and egress to and from any such place of registration or poll 
of election, or in going to and from any such place of registra- 
tion or poll of election, or to aad from any room where any 
such registration or election or canvass of votes, or of making 
any returns or certificates thereof, may be had, or shall molest, 
interfere with, remove, or eject from any such place of registra- 
tion or poll of election, or of canvassing votes cast thereat, or 
of making returns or certificates thereof, any supervisor of elec- 
tion, the marshal, or his general or special deputies, or either 
of them, or shall threaten, or attempt, or offer so to do, or shall 
refuse or neglect to aid and assist any supervisor of election, ot 
the marshal or his general or special deputies, or either of them, 
in the performance of his or their duties when required by him 
or them, or either of them, to give such aid and assistance, he 
shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and liable to instant arrest 
without process, and on conviction" thereof shall be punished 
by imprisonment not more than two years, or by fine not more 
than three thousand dollars, or by both such fine and imprison- 
ment, and shall pay the costs of the prosecution. Whoever 
shall, during the progress of any verification , of any list of 
the persons who may have registered or voted, and which 
shall be had or made under any of the provisions of this act, 
refuse to answer, or refrain from answering, or answering shall 
knowingly give false information in respect to any inquiry law- 
fully made, such person shall -be liable to arrest and imprison- 
ment as for a misdemeanor, and on conviction thereof shall be 
punished by imprisonment not to exceed thirty days, or by fine 
not to exceed one hundred dollars, or by both such fine and 
imprisonment, and shall pay the costs of the prosecution. 

Sec. 19. And be it further enacted, That all votes for repre- 
sentatives in Congress shall hereafter be by written or printed 
ballot, any law of any State to the contrary notwithstanding; 
and all votes received or recorded contrary to the provisions of 
this section shall be of none effect.^ 

' Amended by act of May 3, 1872 {U.S. Stat, at Large, XVII., 61). — Ed. 



560 ACT TO ENFORCE FOURTEENTH AMENDMENT [April 20 

No. 172. Act to enforce the Fourteenth 
Amendment 

April 20, 1 87 1 

A BILL to enforce the provisions of the fourteenth amendment was re- 
ported in the House March 28, 1871, by Samuel Shellabarger of Ohio, from 
the select committee to which had been referred the President's message of 
March 23 on the condition o( affairs in the South. The bill formed the prin- 
cipal subject of debate until April 6, when, with amendments, it passed the 
House by a vote of 118 to 91, 18 not voting. The Senate added, among 
others, an amendment offered by Sherman making counties, cities, parishes, 
etc., liable for injuries done to any person by reason of his race or color, and 
on the 14th passed the bill, the vote being 45 to 19, 6 not voting. The House, 
by a vote of 45 to 132, 53 not voting, rejected the principal Senate amend- 
ment, and also refused, by a vote of 74 to 106, 50 not voting, to agree to a re- 
port of a conference committee retaining the objectionable section. A second 
conference committee reported a compromise in the terms of section 6 of the 
act. The report was agreed to April 19, in the House by a vote of 93 to 74, 
63 not voting, and in the Senate by a vote of 36 to 13. A proclamation call- 
ing attention to the act as one of "extraordinary public importance" was 
issued May 3. 

References. — Text in U.S. Statutes at Large, XVII., 13-15. For the 
proceedings see the House and Senate Journals, 4.26. Cong., ist Sess., and the 
Cong. Globe. The "Ku Klux" report is House Report 22 and Senate Report 
41, 42d Cong., 2d Sess. 

An Act to enforce the Provisions of the Fourteenth Amendment 
to the Constitution of the United States, and for other Purposes. 

Be it enacted . • . , That any person who, under color of any 
law, statute, ordinance, regulation, custom, or usage of any 
State, shall subject, or cause to be subjected, any person within 
the jurisdiction of the United States to the deprivation of any 
rights, pri\dleges, or immunities secured by the Constitution of 
the United States, shall, any such law, statute, ordinance, regu- 
lation, custom, or usage of the State to the contrary notwith- 
standing, be Uable to the party injured in any action at law, suit 
in equity, or other proper proceeding for redress; such proceed- 
ing to be prosecuted in the several district or circuit courts of 
the United States, with and subject to the same rights of appeal, 
review upon error, and other remedies provided in like cases in 



1871] ACT TO ENFORCE FOURTEENTH AMENDMENT 561 

such courts, under the provisions of the . . . [Civil Rights 
Act] . . . , and the other remedial laws of the United States 
which are in their nature applicable in such cases. 

Sec. 2. That if two or more persons within any State or 
Territory of the United States shall conspire together to over- 
throw, or to put down, or to destroy by force the government of 
the United States, or to levy war against the United States, or 
to oppose by force the authority of the government of the 
United States, or by force, intimidation, or threat to prevent, 
hinder, or delay the execution of any law of the United States, or 
by force to seize, take, or possess any property of the United 
States contrary to the authority thereof, or by force, intimida- 
tion, or threat to prevent any person from accepting or holding 
any office or trust or place of confidence under the United 
States, or from discharging the duties thereof, or by force, in- 
timidation, or threat to induce any officer of the United States 
to leave any State, district, or place where his duties as such 
officer might lawfully be performed, or to injure him in his per- 
son or property on account of his lawful discharge of the duties 
of his office, or to injure his person while engaged in the lawful 
discharge of the duties of his office, or to injure his property so 
as to molest, interrupt, hinder, or impede him in the discharge 
of his official duty, or by force, intimidation, or threat to deter 
any party or witness in any court of the United States from at- 
tending such court, or from testifying in any matter pending in 
such court fully, freely, and truthfully, or to injure any such 
party or witness in his person or property on account of his 
having so attended or testified, or by force, intimidation, or 
threat to influence the verdict, presentment, or indictment, of 
any juror or grand juror in any court of the United States, or 
to injure such juror in his person or property on account of any 
verdict, presentment, or indictment lawfully assented to by him, 
or on account of his being or having been such juror, or shall 
conspire together, or go in disguise upon the public highway or 
upon the premises of another for the purpose, either directly 
or indirectly, of depriving any person or any class of persons 
of the equal protection of the laws, or of equal privileges or im- 
munities under the laws, or for the purpose of preventing or 
hindering the constituted authorities of any State from giving 



562 ACT TO ENFORCE FOURTEENTH AMENDMENT [April 20 

or securing to all persons within such State the equal protection 
of the laws, or shall conspire together for the purpose of in any 
manner impeding, hindering, obstructing, or defeating the due 
course of justice in any State or Territory, with intent to deny 
to any citizen of the United States the due and equal protection 
of the laws, or to injure any person in his person or his property 
for lawfully enforcing the right of any person or class of persons 
to the equal protection of the laws, or by force, intimidation, or 
threat to prevent any citizen of the United States lawfully en- 
titled to vote from giving his support or advocacy in a lawful 
manner towards or in favor of the election of any lawfully quali- 
fied person as an elector of President or Vice-President of the 
United States, or as a member of the Congress of the United 
States, or to injure any such citizen in his person or property on 
account of such support or advocacy, each and every person so 
offending shall be deemed guilty of a high crime, and, upon 
conviction thereof in any district or circuit court of the United 
States or district or supreme court of any Territory of the 
United States having jurisdiction of similar offences, shall be 
punished by a fine not less than five hundred nor more than 
five thousand dollars, or by imprisonment, with or without hard 
labor, as the court may determine, for a period of not less than 
six months nor more than six years, as the court may determine, 
or by both such fine and imprisonment as the court shall deter- 
mine. . . . 

Sec. 3. That in all cases where insurrection, domestic vio- 
lence, unlawful combinations, or conspiracies in any State shall 
so obstruct or hinder the execution of the laws thereof, and of 
the United States, as to deprive any portion or class of the peo- 
ple of such State of any of the rights, privileges, or immunities, 
or protection, named in the Constitution and secured by this 
act, and the constituted authorities of such State shall either 
be unable to protect, or shall, from any cause, fail in or refuse 
protection of the people in such rights, such facts shall be 
deemed a denial by such State of the equal protection of the 
laws to which they are entitled under the Constitution of the 
United States; and in all such cases ... it shall be lawful for 
the President, and it shall he his duty to take such measures, by 
the employment of the militia or the land and naval forces of the 



1871] ACT TO ENFORCE FOURTEENTH AMENDMENT 563 

United States, or of either, or by other means, as he may deem 
necessary for the suppression of such insurrection, domestic vio- 
lence, or combinations. . . . 

Sec. 4. That whenever in any State or part of a State the 
unlawful combinations named in the preceding section of this 
act shall be organized and armed, and so numerous and power- 
ful as to be able, by violence, to either overthrow or set at defi- 
ance the constituted authorities of such State, and of the United 
States within such State, or Avhen the constituted authorities are 
in complicity with, or shall connive at the unlawful purposes 
of, such powerful and armed combinations; and whenever, by 
reason of either or all of the causes aforesaid, the conviction 
of such offenders and the preservation of the public safety shall 
become in such district impracticable, in every such case such 
combinations shall be deemed a rebellion against the govern- 
ment of the United States, and during the continuance of such 
rebellion, and within the limits of the district which shall be so 
under the sway thereof, such limits to be prescribed by procla- 
mation, it shall be lawful for the President of the United States, 
when in his judgment the. public safety shall require it, to sus- 
pend the privileges of the writ of habeas corpus, to the end that 
such rebellion may be overthrown: Provided, That all the pro- 
visions of the second section of . . . [the Habeas Corpus Act of 
March 3, 1863] . . . , which relate to the discharge of prisoners 
other than prisoners of war, and to the penalty for refusing to 
obey the order of the court, shall be in full force so far as the same 
are applicable to the provisions of this section: Provided further, 
That the President shall first have made proclamation, as now 
provided by law, commanding such insurgents to disperse: 
And provided also, That the provisions of this section shall 
not be in force after the end of the next regular session of 
Congress. 

Sec. 5. That no person shall be a grand or petit juror in 
any court of the United States upon any inquiry, hearing, or 
trial of any suit, proceeding, or prosecution based upon or aris- 
ing under the provisions of this act who shall, in the judgment 
of the court, be in complicity with any such combination or con- 
spiracy; and every such juror shall, before entering upon any 
such inquiry, hearing, or trial, take and subscribe an oath in 



564 ACT REMOVING POLITICAL DISABILITIES [May 22 

open court that he has never, directly or indirectly, counselled, 
advised, or voluntarily aided any such combination or conspir- 
acy. . . . 

******** 



No. 173. Act removing Political Disabili- 
ties 

May 22. 1872 

May 13, 1872, the House having before it a number of bills for the removal 
of the political disabilities of the persons named therein, the rules were sus- 
pended, and a general bill for the removal of disabilities imposed by the 
fourteenth amendment was introduced by Butler of Massachusetts, from the 
Committee on the Judiciary, and passed. The Senate passed the bill on 
the 2ist by a vote of 38 to 2. The debate was without special interest. The 
disabilities not provided for by this act were removed by an act of June 6, 
1898. 

References. — Text in U.S. Statutes at Large, XVII., 142. For the pro- 
ceedings see the House and Senate Journals, 42d Cong., ist Sess., and the 
Cong. Record. 

An Act to remove political Disabilities imposed by the fourteenth 
Article of the Amendments of the Constitution of the United 
States. 

Be it enacted . . . , (two-thirds of each house concurring 
therein), That all political disabilities imposed by the third sec- 
tion of the fourteenth article of amendments of the Constitution 
of the United States are hereby removed from all persons whom- 
soever, except Senators and Representatives of- the thirty-sixth 
and thirty-seventh Congresses, officers in the judicial, military, 
and naval ser\dce of the United States, heads of departments, and 
foreign ministers of the United States. 



1872] COINAGE ACT 565 



No. 174. Coinage Act 

February 12, 1873 

The need of a revision of the laws relating to the mints, assay offices, and 
coinage was suggested as early as 1866, and April 25, 1870, a report on the 
subject, prepared by John Jay Knox, comptroller of the currency, was sub- 
mitted to Congress, together with the draft of a bill. A bill in accordance 
with this report was reported in the Senate December 19, 1870, by Sherman, 
and passed that body January 10, 187 1. A substitute reported in the House 
February 25 was recommitted. A second bill to the same effect was intro- 
duced in the House March 3, by William D. Kelley of Pennsylvania, and 
referred to the Committee on Coinage, Weights, and Measures. The bill was 
not reported until January 9, 1872, and the next day was recommitted. A bill 
with similar title was reported February 9 by Hooper of Massachusetts, and 
also recommitted. The latter bill was taken up April 9, and May 27 a substi- 
tute offered by Hooper was passed under suspension of the rules. The Senate 
referred the bill to the Committee on Finance, and the session closed without 
further action. December 16 the bill was reported in the Senate, further 
amendments being reported January 7, 1873. The bill was taken up on the 
17th, and passed with amendments the same day. The final form of the bill 
was the work of a conference committee. The omission of the standard sil- 
ver dollar of 412^ grains from the list of coins led later to the charge that the 
act aimed to demonetize silver, and caused the advocates of silver to refer to 
the act as the "crime of 1873." Only those sections of the act giving the 
list of coins are inserted here. 

References. — Text in U.S. Statutes at Large, XVII., 424-436, passim. 
For the proceedings see the House and Senate Journals, 41st Cong., 3d Sess., 
and 42d Cong., and the Cong. Record; see also the Record, 53d Cong., ist 
Sess., pp. 1 219-1224. Y^nox'?,rt]iori\s Senate Misc. Doc. 132, 41st Cong., 2d 
Sess.; the correspondence connected with it is in House Exec. Doc. 307. 

An Act revising and amending the Laws relative to the Mints, 
Assay-offices, and Coinage of the United States. 

Sec. 14. That the gold coins of the United States shall be a 
one-dollar piece, which, at the standard weight of twenty- five 
and eight-tenths grains, shall be the unit of value ; a quarter-eagle, 
or two-and-a-half dollar piece ; a three-dollar piece ; a half-eagle, 
or f^ve-doUar piece; an eagle, or ten-dollar piece; and a double 
eagle ; or twenty- dollar piec. . . . ; which coins shall be a legal 
tender in all paymencs ^t their nominal value when not below the 
standard weight and limit of tolerance provided in this act for the 



566 ■ RESUMPTION OF SPECIE PAYMENTS [Jan. 14 

single piece, and, when reduced in weight, below said standard 
and tolerance, shall be a legal tender at valuation in proportion 
to their actual weight. . . . 

Sec. 17. That the silver coins of the United States shall be a 
trade-dollar, a half-dollar, or fifty-cent piece, a quarter-dollar, or 
twenty-five-cent piece, a dime, or ten-cent piece ; . . . and said 
coins shall be a legal tender at their nominal value for any amount 
not exceeding five dollars in any one payment. 

Sec. 16. That the minor coins of the United States shall be 
a five-cent piece, a three-cent piece, and a one-cent piece . . . ; 
which coins shall be a legal tender, at their nominal value, for 
any amount not exceeding twenty-five cents in any one payment. 

Sec. 17. That no coins, either of gold, silver, or minor coinage, 
shall hereafter be issued from the mint other than those of the 
denominations, standards, and weights herein set forth. 



No. 175. Resumption of Specie Payments 

January 14, 1875 

One result of the financial crisis which began in September, 1873, was the 
introduction, in the next session of Congress, of an extraordinary number of 
bills relating to banks and the currency. A bill providing for the redemption 
and reissue of United States notes, with gradual payment of the notes in coin 
or bonds after January i, 1876, was reported in the Senate by Sherman 
March 23, 1874, and passed that body April 6 and the House April 14, but 
was vetoed by President Grant. A bill to provide for the resumption of 
specie payments, prepared in the first instance by a committee of the Republi- 
can members of Congress, and submitted by them to the Senate Committee on 
Finance, was reported by Sherman December 21, and passed the Sen- 
ate the next day by a vote of 32 to 14. The bill was taken up in the House 
January 7, 1875, ^^'^ passed the same day, the vote being 136 to 98, 54 not 
voting. President Grant communicated his approval in a special mes- 
sage to the Senate, in which further legislation to make the law effective was 
suggested. 

References. — Text in U.S. Statutes at Large, XVIIL, 296. For the pro- 
ceedings see the House and Senate Journals, 43d Cong., 2d Sess., and the 
Cong. Record. On resumption see Sherman, Recollections, I., chaps. 24- 
26; II., chaps. 30 and 36; annual reports of the Secretary of the Treasury 
(Sherman) for 1877-1879; House Misc. Doc. 48, 4Sth Cong., 2d Sess. 



1875] RESUMPTION OF SPECIE PAYMENTS 567 

An act to provide for the resumption of specie payments. 

Be it enacted . • . , That the Secretary of the Treasury is 
hereby authorized and required, as rapidly as practicable, to 
cause to be coined at the mints of the United States, silver coins 
of the denominations of ten, twenty-five, ^nd fifty cents, of stand- 
ard value, and to issue them in redemption of an equal number 
and amount of fractional currency of similar denominations, or, at 
his discretion, he may issue such silver coins through the mints, 
the subtreasuries, public depositaries, and post-offices of the 
United States; and, upon such issue, he is hereby authorized 
and required to redeem an equal amount of such fractional cur- 
rency, until the whole amount of such fractional currency out- 
standing shall be redeemed. 

Sec. 2. That so much of section ... [3524] .. . of the 
Revised Statutes of the United States as provides for a charge of 
one-fifth of one per centum for converting standard gold bullion 
into coin is hereby repealed, and hereafter no charge shall be made 
for that service. 

Sec. 3. That section . . . [5177] ... of the Revised Statutes 
of the United States, limiting the aggregate amount of circulating- 
notes of national banking-associations, be, and is hereby, repealed ; 
and each existing banking-association may increase its circulating- 
notes in accordance with existing law without respect to said 
aggregate limit; and new banking-associations may be organized 
in accordance with existing law without respect to said aggregate 
limit; and the provisions- of law for the withdrawal and redis- 
tribution of national-bank currency aniong the several States and 
Territories are hereby repealed. And whenever, and so often, 
as circulating-notes shall be issued to any such banking-associa- 
tion, so increasing its capital or circulating-notes, or so newly 
organized as aforesaid, it shall be the duty of the Secretary of 
the Treasury to redeem the legal-tender United States notes in 
excess only of three hundred million of dollars, to the amount 
of eighty per centum of the sum of national-bank notes so issued 
to any such banking-association as aforesaid, and to continue 
such redemption as such circulating-notes are issued until there 
shall be outstanding the sum of three hundred million dollars 
of such legal-tender United States notes, and no more. And on 



568 SECOND CIVIL RIGHTS ACT [March i 

and after . . . [January i, 1879] . . . , the Secretary of the 
Treasury shall redeem, in coin, the United States legal-tender 
notes then outstanding on their presentation for redemption, at 
the office of the assistant treasurer of the United States in the city 
of New York,^ in sums of not less than fifty dollars. And to enable 
the Secretary of the l^reasury to prepare and provide for the 
redemption in this act authorized or required, he is authorized 
to use any surplus revenues, from time to time, in the Treasury 
not otherwise appropriated, and to issue, sell, and dispose of, 
at not less than par, in coin, either of the descriptions of bonds 
of the United States described in the . . . [Funding Act of July 
14, 1870] . . . , with like qualities, privileges, and exemptions, 
to the extent necessary to carry this act into full effect, and to 
use the proceeds thereof for the purposes aforesaid. . . . 



No. 176. Second Civil Rights Act 

March i, 1875 

An amendment offered by Sumner to the amnesty act of May 22, 1872 
[No. 173], forbidding discrimination against negroes in certain public places 
and elsewhere, was lost by a vote of 29 to 30. A bill of similar purport was 
called up in the Senate December 11, 1872, and passed over. Another bill 
passed the Senate April 30, 1873, but failed in the House. A third bill was 
introduced in the House December 18, by Butler of Massachusetts, from the 
Committee on the Judiciary, and January 7, 1874, was recommitted. A fourth 
civil rights bill passed the Senate May 22, but was not acted on by the House. 
A substitute for Butler's bill was reported December 16, and February 4, 1875, 
passed the House with amendments, the vote being 162 to 100, 27 not voting. 
The bill was reported in the Senate on the 15th without amendment, and 
passed the same day by a vote of 38 to 26. 

References. — Text in U.S. Statutes at Large, XVIII., 335-337. For 
the proceedings see the House and Senate Journals, 43d Cong., 2d Sess., and 
the Cong. Record. 

An act to protect all citizens in their civil and legal rights. 

Whereas, it is essential to just government we recognize the 
equality of all men before the law, and hold that it is the duty of 
government in its dealings with the people to mete out equal and 

' An act of March 3, 1887, chap. 378, added San Francisco. — Ed. 



1875] SECOND CIVIL RIGHTS ACT 569 

exact justice to all, of whatever nativity, race, color, or persuasion, 
religious or political ; and it being the appropriate object of legis- 
lation to enact great fundamental principles into law: Therefore, 

Be it enacted . . . , That all persons within the jurisdiction of 
the United States shall be entitled to the full and equal enjoyment 
of the accommodations, advantages, facilities, and privileges of 
inns, public conveyances on land or water, theaters, and other 
places of public amusement; subject only to the conditions and 
limitations established by law, and applicable alike to citizens of 
every race and color, regardless of any previous condition of 
servitude. 

Sec. 2. That any person who shall violate the foregoing section 
by denying to any citizen, except for reasons by law applicable to 
citizens of every race and color, and regardless of any previous 
condition of servitude, the full enjoyment of any of the accommo- 
dations, advantages, facilities, or privileges in said section enu- 
merated, or by aiding or inciting such denial, shall, for every such 
offense, forfeit and pay the sum of five hundred dollars to the 
person aggrieved thereby, to be recovered in an action of debt, 
with full costs ; and shall also, for every such offense, be deemed 
guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be 
fined not less than five hundred nor more than one thousand dol- 
lars, or shall be imprisoned not less than thirty days nor more 
than one year . . . 

Sec. 3. That the district and circuit courts of the United 
States shall have, exclusively of the courts of the several States, 
cognizance of all crimes and offenses against, and violations of, 
the provisions of this act ... , 

Sec. 4. That no citizen possessing all other qualifications which 
are or may be prescribed by law shall be disqualified for service 
as grand or petit juror in any court of the United States, or of 
any State, on account of race, color, or previous condition of servi- 
tude; and any officer or other person charged with any duty in 
the selection or summoning of jurors who shall exclude or fail to 
summon any citizen for the cause aforesaid shall, on conviction 
thereof, be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and be fined not 
more than five thousand dollars. 



570 ELECTORAL COUNT ACT [Jan. 25 

No. 177. Electoral Count Act 

January 29, 1877 

The result of the presidential election of 1S76 turned on the counting of 
the electoral votes of South Carolina, Florida, Louisiana, and Oregon, from 
each of which States there were double returns. December 7, 1876, George 
W. McCrary of Iowa offered in the House a resolution for the appointment of 
a committee of five, to act with a similar committee of the Senate, with instruc- 
tions to report a bill for the counting of the electoral vote. The Committee 
on the Judiciary, to which the resolution was referred, reported on the 14th a 
substitute increasing the number of members to seven, which resolution was 
agreed to. A similar committee of seven was appointed by the Senate 
on the i8th. A committee was also appointed in the Senate to investi- 
gate the recent election, and in the House to inquire into the powers of 
the House in regard to counting the electoral vote. January 18 the joint com- 
mittee reported a bill to regulate the electoral count. The bill passed the 
Senate without amendment on the 24th by a vote of 47 to 17, and the House 
on the 26th by a vote of 191 to 86, 14 not voting. The approval of President 
Grant was communicated in a special message. The count began February i , 
and the result was announced in the early morning of March 2. The result 
of the count showed 1S5 votes for Hayes and Wheeler, the Republican candi- 
dates, and 184 votes for Tilden and Hendricks, the Democratic candidates. 

References. — Text in U.S. Statutes at Large, XIX., 227-229. For the 
proceedings see the House and Senate Journals, 44th Cong., 2d Scss., and the 
Cong. Record. The report of the commission is in the Record, ibid., Vol. 5, 
Part IV.; it was also published separately. A large amount of documentary 
evidence was introduced in the debates. The other documentary literature is 
extensive. 

An act to provide for and regulate the counting of votes for President and 
Vice-President, and the decision of questions arising thereon, for the term 
commencing . . . [March 4, 1877]. 

Be it enacted . . . , That the Senate and House of Representa- 
tives shall meet in the hall of the House of Representatives, at the 
hour of one o'clock post meridian, on the first Thursday in Feb- 
ruary, . . . [1877]; and the President of the Senate shall be their 
presiding officer. Two tellers shall be previously appointed on 
the part of the Senate, and two on the part of the House of Repre- 
sentatives, to whom shall be handed, as they are opened by the 
President of the Senate, all the certificates, and papers purporting 
to be certificates, of the electoral votes, which certificates and 
papers shall be opened, presented, and acted upon in the alpha- 



1877] ELECTORAL COUNT ACT 57 1 

betical order of the States, beginning with the letter A; and said 
tellers having then read the same in the presence and hearing of 
the two houses, shall make a list of the votes as they shall appear 
from the said certificates; and the votes having been ascertained 
and counted as in this act provided, the result of the same shall 
be delivered to the President of the Senate, who shall thereupon 
announce the state of the vote, and the names of the persons, 
if any, elected, which announcement shall be deemed a sufficient 
declaration of the persons elected President and Vice-President 
of the United States, and, together with a list of the votes, be 
entered on the journals of the two houses. Upon such reading 
of any such certificate or paper when there shall be only one return 
from a State, the President of the Senate shall call for objections, 
if any. Every objection shall be made in writing, and shall state 
clearly and concisely, and without argument, the ground thereof, 
and shall be signed by at least one Senator and one member of 
the House of Representatives before the same shall be received. 
When all objections so made to any vote or paper from a State 
shall have been received and read, the Senate shall thereupon 
withdraw, and such objections shall be submitted to the Senate 
for its decision ; and the Speaker of the House of Representatives 
shall, in like manner, submit such objections to the House of 
Representatives for its decision; and no electoral vote or votes 
from any State from which but one return has been received shall 
be rejected except by the affirmative vote of the two Houses. 
When the two Houses have voted, they shall immediately again 
meet, and the presiding officer shall then announce the decision 
of the question submitted. 

Sec. 2. That if more than one return, or paper purporting to 
be a return from a State, shall have been received by the Presi- 
dent of the Senate, purporting to be the certificates of electoral 
votes given at the last preceding election for President and Vice- 
President in such State, (unless they shall be duplicates of the 
same return,) all such returns and papers shall be opened by him 
in the presence of the two Houses when met as aforesaid, and read 
by the tellers, and all such returns and papers shall thereupon be 
submitted to the judgment and decision as to which is the true 
and lawful electoral vote of such State, of a commission consti- 
tuted as follows, namely: During the session of each House on 



572 ELECTORAL COUNT ACT [Jan. 2cj 

the Tuesday next preceding the first Thursday in February . . . 
[1877] . . . , each House shall, by viva voce vote, appoint five 
of its members, who with the five associate justices of the Supreme 
Court of the United States, to be ascertained as hereinafter pro- 
vided, shall constitute a commission for the decision of all questions 
upon or in respect of such double returns named in this section. 
On the Tuesday next preceding the first Thursday in February 
. . . [1877] . . . , or as soon thereafter as may be, the associate 
justices of the Supreme Court of the United States now assigned 
to the first, third, eighth, and ninth circuits shall select, in such 
manner as a majority of them shall deem fit, another of the as- 
sociate justices of said court, which five persons shall be members 
of said commission ; and the person longest in commission of said 
five justices shall be the president of said commission. . . . 
All the certificates and papers purporting to be certificates of the 
electoral votes of each State shall be opened, in the alphabetical 
order of the States, as provided in section one of this act; and 
when there shall be more than one such certificate or paper, as 
the certificates and papers from such State shall so be opened, 
(excepting duplicates of the same return,) they shall be read by 
the tellers, and thereupon the President of the Senate shall call 
for objections, if any. Every objection shall be made in writing, 
and shall state clearly and concisely, and without argument, the 
ground thereof, and shall be signed by at least one Senator and 
one member of the House of Representatives before the same 
shall be received. When all such objections so made to any 
certificate, vote, or paper from a State shall have been received 
and read, all such certificates, votes, and papers so objected to, 
and all papers accompanying the same, together with such ob- 
jections, shall be forthwith submitted to said commission, which 
shall proceed to consider the same, with the same powers, if any, 
now possessed for that purpose by the two Houses acting separately 
or together, and, by a majority of votes, decide whether any and 
what votes from such State are the votes provided for by the Con- 
stitution of the United States, and how many and what persons 
were duly appointed electors in such State, and may therein take 
into view such petitions, depositions, and other papers, if any, 
as shall, by the Constitution and now existing law, be competent 
and pertinent in such consideration; which decision shall be 



1877] COINAGE OF STANDARD SILVER DOLLAR 573 

made in writing, stating briefly the ground thereof, and signed 
by the members of said commission agreeing therein ; whereupon 
the two houses shall again meet, and such decision shall be read 
and entered in the journal of each House, and the counting of 
the votes shall proceed in conformity therewith, unless, upon 
objection made thereto in writing by at least five Senators and 
five members of the House of Representatives, the two Houses 
shall separately concur in ordering otherwise, in which case such 
concurrent order shall govern. No votes or papers from any 
other State shall be acted upon until the objections previously 
made to the votes or papers from any State shall have been finally 
disposed of. 

Sec. 6. That nothing in this act shall be held to impair or 
affect any right now existing under the Constitution and laws to 
question, by proceeding in the judicial courts of the United States, 
the right or title of the person who shall be declared elected, or 
who shall claim to be President or Vice-President of the United 
States, if any such right exists. 



No. 178. Coinage of the Standard Silver 

Dollar 

February 28, 1878 

The coinage act of February 12, 1873 [No. 174], omitted the silver dol- 
lar from the list of pieces thereafter to be coined, but retained the trade dol- 
lar. A bill to provide for the free and unlimited coinage of silver dollars was 
introduced in the House December 13, 1876, by Richard P. Bland of Mis- 
souri, as a substitute for a bill "to utilize the products of gold and silver 
mines," introduced June 3. The bill passed the House the same day by a 
vote of 167 to 53, 69 not voting. In the Senate the bill was referred to the 
Committee on Finance, which reported it January 16, 1877, without recom- 
mendation, pending the report of the silver commission. November 5, by a 
vote of 164 to 34, 92 not voting, the rules were suspended to allow Bland to 
introduce and the House to pass a free coinage bill.' The bill was taken up 

1 "The previous question being ordered and the rules suspended, a single vote 
would introduce the bill without a reference to a committee, and would pass it 



574 COINAGE OF STANDARD SILVER DOLLAR [Feb. 28 

in the Senate January 28 and debated until February 15. The Senate added 
sections 2 and 3 of the act, the provisos of section i, and, on motion of Wil- 
liam B. Allison of Iowa, the limitation on the amount of coinage, the vote on 
the latter amendment being 49 to 22. The final vote in the Senate was 48 to 
2r, 7 not voting. February 21 the House concurred in the Senate amend- 
ments. On the 28th the bill w^as vetoed by President Hayes, but was passed 
over the veto, in the House by a vote of 196 to 73, 23 not voting; in the 
Senate by a vote of 46 to 19, 11 not voting. The coinage pro''ision of the act 
was repealed by section 5 of the act of July 14, 1890 [No. 182, post]. 

References. — Text in U.S. Statutes at Large, XX., 25, 26. For the 
proceedings see the House and Senate Journals, 45th Cong., 2d Sess., and the 
Cong. Record. See House Misc. Doc. 27; Senate E.xec. Doc. 3, 50th Cong., 
2d Sess.; Sherman, Recollections, II., chaps. 31 and 32, and annual report as 
Secretary of the Treasury, December, 1877. 

An act to authorize the coinage of the standard silver dollar, and to restore 
its legal-tender character. 

Be it enacted . . . , That there shall be coined, at the several 
mints of the United States, silver dollars of the weight of four 
hundred and twelve and a half grains Troy of standard silver, as 
provided in the act of . . . [January 18, 1837] . . . , on which 
shall be the devices and superscriptions provided by said act; 
which coins together with all silver dollars heretofore coined by the 
United States, of like weight and fineness, shall be a legal tender, 
at their nominal value, for all debts and dues public and private, 
except where otherwise expressly stipulated in the contract. 
And the Secretary of the Treasury is authorized and directed to 
purchase, from time to time, silver bullion, at the market price 
thereof, not less than two million dollars worth per month, nor 
more than four million dollars worth per month, and cause the 
same to be coined monthly, as fast as so purchased, into such 
dollars. . . . And any gain or seigniorage arising from this 
coinage shall be accounted for and paid into the Treasury, as 
provided under existing laws relative to the subsidiary coinage: 
Provided, That the amount of money at any one time invested 
in such silver bullion, exclusive of such resulting coin, shall not 
exceed five million dollars. . . . 

Sec. 2. That immediately after the passage of this act, the Presi- 
dent shall iuN-ite the governments of the countries composing the 

without any power of amendment, without the usual reading at three separate 
times." (Sherman, Recollections, II., 603.) 



1878] CIVIL SERVICE ACT 575 

Latin Union, so-called, and of such other European nations as he 
may deem advisable, to join the United States in a conference to 
adopt a common ratio between gold and silver, for the purpose of 
establishing, internationally, the use of bi-metallic money, and 
securing fixity of relative value between those metals; such con- 
ference to be held at such place, in Europe or in the United States, 
at such time within six months, as may be mutually agreed upon 
by the executives of the governments joining in the same, whenever 
the governments so invited, or any three of them, shall have signi- 
fied their willingness to unite in the same. 

The President shall, by and with the advice and consent of the 
Senate, appoint three commissioners, who shall attend such con- 
ference on behalf of the United States, and shall report the doings 
thereof to the President, who shall transmit the same to Congress. 

Sec. 3. That any holder of the coin authorized by this act may 
deposit the same with the Treasurer or any assistant treasurer of 
the United States, in sums not less than ten dollars, and receive 
therefor certificates of not less than ten dollars each, corresponding 
with the denominations of the United States notes. The coin de- 
posited for or representing the certificates shall be retained in the 
Treasury for the payment of the same on demand. Said certifi- 
cates shall be receivable for customs, taxes, and all public dues, 
and, when so received, may be reissued. 



No. 179. Civil Service Act 

January 16, 1883 

In his annual message of December 5, 1870, President Grant urged the 
attention of Congress to " a reform in the civil service of the country." In 
accordance with this recommendation, the sundry civil appropriation act of 
March 3, 187 1, authorized the President to pre.':cribe regulations for admis- 
sion to the civil service. A civil service commission was appointed, and for 
two years appropriations were made for its support. The continuance of the 
appropriations was urged by Grant, and again by President Hayes in his an- 
nual messages of 1879 and 1880, but without inducin j; congressional action. 
The assassination of President Garfield called public attention forcibly to the 



576 CIVIL SERVICE ACT [Jan. i6 

evils of the existing system of appointment and removal, and the annual mes- 
sage of President Arthur, December 6, 1881, brought the subject of civil 
service reform strongly before Congress. A bill "to regulate and improve 
the civil service" was introduced in the Senate December 6, 188 1, by George 
H. Pendleton of Ohio, and on January 11, 1882, was referred, together with 
a bill "to prevent extortion from persons in the public service, and bribery 
and coercion by such persons," to the Committee on the Civil Service and 
Retrenchment. The bill was reported with amendments March 29, the com- 
mittee report to accompany it not being submitted until May 15. The 
session closed without further action. The Pendleton bill was taken up 
December 11 and formed the principal subject of debate until the 27th, 
when, with various amendments, it passed the Senate by a vote of 38 to 5, 
^;i not voting. The bill was reported in the House without amendment Jan- 
uary 4, 1883, read three times and passed, the final vote being 155 to 46, 88 
not voting. 

References. — Text in U.S. Statutes at Large, XXII., 403-407. For the 
proceedings see the House and Senate Journals, 47th Cong., ist and 2d Sess., 
and the Cong. Record. Pendleton's report of May 15 in Senate Report 576. 
The annual reports of the Civil Service Commission are the primary authori- 
ties on the operation of the act; see also the Proceedings of the National Civil 
Service Reform League. The pamphlet and periodical literature is extensive. 
On the earlier history of the movement see House Report 47, 40th Cong., 2d 
Sess. (Jenckes's report); Senate Exec. Doc. 10, 42d Cong., 2d Sess., and 
Senate Exec. Doc. 53 (same in House Exec. Doc. 221), 43d Cong., ist Sess. 
(commission reports); Senate Report 289, 44th Cong., ist Sess. (Boutwell's 
report); House Exec. Doc. i, Part i, 46th Cong., 2d Sess. (Eaton's report); 
House Exec. Doc. i, Part 8, ibid., and House Exec. Doc. 94, 46th Cor ,., 3d 
Sess. (New York regulations); Senate Report 872, 46th Cong., 3d Sess. 
(Pendleton's report). See also Senate Report 2373, 50th Cong., ist Sess. 

An act to regulate and improve the civil service of the United States. 

Be it enacted'. . . , That the President is authorized to appoint, 
by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, three persons, 
not more than two of whom shall be adherents of the same party, 
as Civil Service Commissioners, and said three commissioners 
shall constitute the United States Civil Service Commission. Said 
commissioners shall hold no other official place under the United 
States. 

******** 

Sec. 2. That it shall be the duty of said commissioners: 

First. To aid the President, as he may request, in preparing 

suitable rules for carrying this act into effect, and when said rules 

shall have been promulgated it shall be the duty of all officers 

of the United States in the departments and offices to which any 



1883] CIVIL SERVICE ACT 577 

such rules may relate to aid, in all proper ways, in carrying said 
rules, and any modifications thereof, into effect. 

Second. And, among other things, said rules shall provide and 
declare, as nearly as the conditions of good administration will 
warrant, as follows : 

First, for open, competitive examinations for testing the fitness 
of applicants for the public service now classified or to be classi- 
fied hereunder. Such examinations shall be practical in their 
character, and so far as may be shall relate to those matters which 
will fairly test the relative capacity and fitness of the persons 
examined to discharge the duties of the service into which they 
seek to be appointed. 

Second, that all the offices, places, and employments so arranged 
or to be arranged in classes shall be filled by selections according 
to grade from among those graded highest as the results of such 
competitive examinations. 

Third, appointments to the public service aforesaid in the de- 
partments at Washington shall be apportioned among the several 
States and Territories and the District of Columbia upon the 
basis of population as ascertained at the last preceding census. . . . 

Fourth, that there shall be a period of probation before any 
absolute appointment or employment aforesaid. 

Fifth, that no person in the public service is for that reason 
under any obligations to contribute to any political fund, or to 
render any political service, and that he will not be removed or 
otherwise prejudiced for refusing to do so. 

Sixth, that no person in said service has any right to use his 
official authority or influence to coerce the political action of any 
person or body. 

Seventh, there shall be non-competitive examinations in all 
proper cases before the commission, when competent persons do 
not compete, after notice has been given of the existence of the 
vacancy, under such rules as may be prescribed by the commis- 
sioners as to the manner of giving notice. 

Eighth, that notice shall be given in writing by the appointing 
power to said commission of the persons selected for appointment 
or employment from among those who have been examined, of 
the place of residence of such persons, of the rejection of any 
such persons after probation, of transfers, resignations, and re- 



578 CIVIL SERVICE ACT [Jan. 16 

movals, and of the date thereof, and a record of the same shall 
be kept by said commission. . . . 

Third. Said commission shall, subject to the rules that may be 
made by the President, make regulations for, and have control of, 
such examinations, and, through its members or the examiners, 
it shall supervise and preserve the records of the same . . . 

Fourth. Said commission may make investigations concerning 
the facts, and may report upon all matters touching the enforce- 
ment and effects of said rules and regulations, and concerning 
the action of any examiner or board of examiners hereinafter 
provided for, and its own subordinates, and those in the public 
service, in respect to the execution of this act. 

Fifth. Said commission shall make an annual report to the 
President for transmission to Congress, showing its own action, 
the rules and regulations and the exceptions thereto in force, 
the practical effects thereof, and any suggestions it may approve 
for the more effectual accomplishment of the purposes of this act. 

Sec. 3. That said commission is authorized to employ a chief 
examiner, a part of whose duty it shall be, under its direction, to 
act with the examining boards, so far as practicable, whether at 
Washington or elsewhere, and to secure accuracy, uniformity, and 
justice in all their proceedings, which shall be at all times open 
to him. . . . The commission shall, at Washington, and in one 
or more places in each State and Territory where examinations 
are to take place, designate and select a suitable number of persons, 
not less than three, in the official service of the United States, 
residing in said State or Territory, after consulting the head of the 
department or office in which such persons serve, to be members 
of boards of examiners. . . . Such boards of examiners shall be 
so located as to make it reasonably convenient and inexpensive 
for applicants to attend before them ; and where there are persons 
to be examined in any State or Territory, examinations shall be 
held therein at least twice in each year. It shall be the duty of the 
collector, postmaster, and other officers of the United States, at 
any place outside of the District of Columbia where examinations 
are directed by the President or by said board to be held, to allow 
the reasonable use of the public buildings for holding such ex- 
aminations, and in all proper ways to facilitate the same. 



1883] CIVIL SERVICE ACT 579 

Sec. 6. That within sixty days after the passage of this act it 
shall be the duty of the Secretary of the Treasury, in as near con- 
formity as may be to the classification of certain clerks now exist- 
ing under . . . [Section 163] . . . of the Revised Statutes, to 
arrange in classes the several clerks and persons employed by the 
collector, naval officer, surveyor, and appraisers, or either of them, 
or being in the public service, at their respective offices in each 
customs district where the whole number of said clerks and persons 
shall be all together as many as fifty. And thereafter, from time 
to time, on the direction of the President, said Secretary shall make 
the like classification or arrangement of clerks and persons so 
employed, in connection with any said offide or offices, in any other 
customs district. And, upon like request, and for the purposes 
of this act, said Secretary shall arrange in one or more of said 
classes, or of existing classes, any other clerks, agents, or persons 
employed under his department in any said district not now 
classified; and every such arrangement and classification upon 
being made shall be reported to the President. 

Second. Within said sixty days it shall be the duty of the Post- 
master-General, in general conformity to said . . . [Section 
163] . . . , to separately arrange in classes the several clerks 
and persons employed, or in the public service, at each post-office, 
or under any postmaster of the United States, where the whole 
number of said clerks and persons shall together amount to as 
many as fifty. And thereafter, from time to time, on the direction 
of the President, it shall be the duty of the Postmaster-General 
to arrange in like classes the clerks and persons so employed in 
• the postal service in connection with any other post-office; and 
every such arrangement and classification upon being made shall 
be reported to the President. 

Third. That from time to time said Secretary, the Postmaster- 
General, and each of the heads of departments mentioned in . . . 
[Section 158] ... of the Revised Statutes, and each head of an 
office, shall, on the direction of the President, and for facilitating 
the execution of this act, respectively revise any then existing 
classification or arrangement of those in their respective depart- 
ments and offices, and shall, for the purposes of the examination 
herein provided for, include in one or more of such classes, so far 
as practicable, subordinate places, clerks, and officers in the public 



5S0 CIVIL SERVICE ACT [Jan. 16 

sen-ice pertaining to their respective departments not before classi- 
fied for examination. 

Sec. 7. That after the expiration of six niontlis from the pas- 
sage of this act no olticer or clerk shall W ap^x->inied, and no per- 
son shall be employed to enter or Ix^ promoted in either of the 
said classes now existing, or that may be arranged hereunder pur- 
suant to said rules, until he has passed an examination, or is shown 
to be specially exempted from such examination in conformity 
herewith. But noticing heroin contained sliall Ix" construed to 
take fn^m those honorably disch:irgod from the military or nav:U 
serWce any preierence conferred by . . . [Section 1754] . . . of 
the Rexised Statutes, nor to take from the Pn^sident any authority 
not inconsistent with this act conferred by . . . [Section 1753] 
... of said statutes; nor shall any officer not in the executive 
branch of the government, or any person merely employed as a 
laborer or workman, be required to be classified hereunder ; nor. 
unless by direction of the Senate, shall any |x^rson who has Ix^n 
nominated for confirmation by the Senate be required to be classi- 
fied or to pass an examination. 

Sec. S. That no person habitually using intoxicating beverages 
to excess shall be appointed to, or retained in, any office, appoint- 
ment, or employment to which the pro\-isions of this act are 
applicable. 

Sec. 9. That whenever there are already two or more members 
of a family in the public ser\-ice in the grades covered by this act, 
no other memlvr of such family shall be eligible to appointment 
to any of said grades. 

Sec. 10. That no recommendation of any person who shall 
apply for office or place under the pronsions of this act which 
may Ix^ given by any Senator or mem[>er of the House of Repre- 
sentatives, except as to the character or residence of the apphcant, 
shall be received or considered by any person concerned in making 
any examination or appointment under this act. 

Sec. II. That no Senator, or Representative, or Territorial 
Delegate of the Congress, or Senator. Representative, or Dele- 
g;^te elect, or any officer or employee of either of said houses, 
and no executive, judicial, military, or naval officer of the United 
States, and no clerk or employee of any department, branch or 
bureau of the executive, judicial, or militaiy or naval serxice of 



18H3J IN riikS'l'A'I'l'; COMMRRCK ACT 58r 

the United States, shall, (hrec lly or iiidirec (ly, soHcit or receive, 
or he ill any manner concerned in soiic itin^^ or receiving, any 
assessment, subscription, or contrihution for any politic al |)urpose 
whatever, from any officer, cleri<, or employ(;e of the United States, 
or any de])artment, branch, or bureau thereof, or from any person 
receiving any salary or comfiensation from moneys derivefl from 
the Treasury of the United States. 

Skc. 12. That no jjcrson shall, in any room or building orcu- 
|)ic(I in the discharge of official duties by any officer or em|jioyee 
of tlic United States mentioned in this act, or in any navy-yard, 
fort, or arsenal, solicit in any manner whatever, or receive any con- 
tribution of money or any other thing of value for any j>olitical 
purpose whatever. 

******** 



No. 180. Interstate Commerce Act 

February 4, 1887 

A Bii.i, to regulate interstalc fommcrrc was rcportcfl in the Senate Janu- 
ary 18, 1886, ])y Shelby M. Cullom of Illinois, from the select committee 
appointed "to investif^ate and report on the subject of regulating the trans- 
portation of freights and passengers between the several States )jy railroads 
and water routes." Accomjianying the bill was a voluminous re[)ort. The 
bill was recommitted, and a substitute reported February 16. The l>iil was 
taken up April 14, and formed one of the principal sutijects of ficbate until 
May 12, when, with numerous amendments, the bill passed, the fma! vote 
being 47 to 4, 25 not voting. A substitute was reported in the House 
May 22. The bill was taken up July 21, and on the 30th the amended 
substitute passed the House by a vote of ic;2 to 41, 89 not voting. The 
sessirjn clo.sed without further action beyond the appointment of a conference 
committee. The report cjf the committee was submitted December 15, and 
was accepted by the Senate January 14, 1887, by a vote of 43 to 15, and by 
the House January 21, by a vote of 219 to 41, 58 not voting. Extensive 
amendments to the act were made by an act of March 2, 1889. The scope 
of the commi-ssion, and its authority to compel testimony, were further de- 
fined by an act of February 10, 1891. An act of February 11, 1893, provided 
that no person should be excused from testifying before the commission, or 
from producing papers, etc., on the ground that such evidence would tend to 
incriminate him; but such witnesses were exempted from prosecution or 
penalty on account of acts concerning which they were required to give 
evidence. 



582 INTERSTATE COMMERCE ACT [Feb. 4 

References. — Text in U.S. Statutes at I,ar^e, XXIV., 370-387. For the 
proceedings see the House and Senate Journals, 49th Cong., ist and 2d Sess., 
and the Cong. Record. The text of the House bill is in the Record, July 30. 
CuUom's report of January 18, 1886, is Senate Report 46, 4gth Cong., ist 
Sess. The annual reports of the Interstate Commerce Commission, and the 
debates in Congress on the amendatory acts, are the principal authorities for 
the workings of the statute. For decisions under the act to 1904 see Gould 
and Tucker, Notes on the Revised Statutes, II., 618-621; III., 704-706. 

An act to regulate commerce. 

Be it enacted . . . , That the provisions of this act shall apply 
to any common carrier or carriers engaged in the transportation 
of passengers or property wholly by railroad, or partly by railroad 
and partly by water when both are used, under a common control, 
management, or arrangement, for a continuous carriage or ship- 
ment, from one State or Territory of the United States, or the Dis- 
trict of Columbia, to any other State or Territory of the United 
States, or the District of Columbia, or from any place in the United 
States to an adjacent foreign country, or from any place in the 
United States through a foreign country to any other place in the 
United States, and also to the transportation in like manner of 
property shipped from any place in the United States to a foreign 
country and carried from such place to a port of transshipment, 
or shipped from a foreign country to any place in the United 
States and carried to such place from a port of entry either in the 
United States or an adjacent foreign country: Provided, however, 
That the provisions of this act shall not apply to the transporta- 
tion of passengers or property, or to the receiving, delivering, 
storage, or handling of property, wholly within one State, and 
not shipped to or from a foreign country from or to any State 
or Territory as aforesaid. 

The term "railroad" as used in this act shall include all bridges 
and ferries used or operated in connection with any railroad, and 
also all the road in use by any corporation operating a railroad, 
whether owned or operated under a contract, agreement, or lease ; 
and the term "transportation" shall include all instrumentalities 
of shipment or carriage. 

All charges made for any service rendered or to be rendered in 
the transportation of passengers or property as aforesaid, or in 
connection therewith, or for the receiving, delivering, storage, or 



iSSy] INTERSTATE COMMERCE ACT 583 

handling of such property, shall be reasonable and just; and 
every unjust and unreasonable charge for such service is prohibited 
and declared to be unlawful. 

Sec. 2. That if any common carrier subject to the provisions of 
this act shall, directly or indirectly, by any special rate, rebate, 
drawback, or other device, charge, demand, collect, or receive 
from any person or persons a greater or less compensation for 
any service rendered, or to be rendered, in the transportation of 
passengers or property, subject to the provisions of this act, than 
it charges, demands, collects, or receives from any other person 
or persons for doing for him or them a like and contemporaneous 
service in the transportation of a like kind of traffic under sub- 
stantially similar circumstances and conditions, such common 
carrier shall be deemed guilty of unjust discrimination, which is 
hereby prohibited and declared to be unlawful. 

Sec. 3. That it shall be unlawful for any common carrier sub- 
ject to the provisions of this act to make or give any vmdue or 
unreasonable preference or advantage to any particular person, 
company, firm, corporation, or locality, or any particular descrip- 
tion of traffic, in any respect whatsoever, or to subject any particu- 
lar person, company, firm, corporation, or locality, or any particular 
description of traffic, to any undue or unreasonable prejudice or 
disadvantage in any respect whatsoever. 

Every common carrier subject to the provisions of this act 
shall, according to their respective powers, afford all reasonable, 
proper, and equal facilities for the interchange of traffic between 
their respective lines, and for the receiving, forwarding, and de- 
livering of passengers and property to and from their several 
lines and those connecting therewith, and shall not discriminate 
in their rates and charges between such connecting lines; but 
this shall not be construed as requiring any such common carrier 
to give the use of its tracks or terminal facilities to another carrier 
engaged in like business. 

Sec. 4. That it shall be unlawful for any common carrier sub- 
ject to the provisions of this act to charge or receive any greater 
compensation in the aggregate for the transportation of passengers 
or of like kind of property, under substantially similar circum- 
stances and conditions, for a shorter than for a longer distance 
over the same line, in the same direction, the shorter being in- 



584 INTERSTATE COMMERCE ACT [Feb. 4 

eluded within the longer distance ; but this shall not be construed 
as authorizing any common carrier within the terms of this act to 
charge and receive as great compensation for a shorter as for a 
longer distance : Provided, however, That upon application to the 
Commission appointed under the provisions of this act, such com- 
mon carrier may, in special cases, after investigation by the Com- 
mission, be authorized to charge less for longer than for shorter 
distances for the transportation of passengers or property; and 
the Commission may from time to time prescribe the extent to 
which such designated common carrier may be relieved from the 
operation of this section of this act. 

Sec. 5. That it shall be unlawful for any common carrier sub- 
ject to the provisions of this act to enter into any contract, agree- 
ment, or combination with any other common carrier or carriers 
for the pooling of freights of different and competing railroads, or 
to divide between them the aggregate or net proceeds of the 
earnings of such railroads, or any portion thereof; and in any 
case of an agreement for the pooling of freights as aforesaid, each 
day of its continuance shall be deemed a separate offense. 

Sec. 6. That every common carrier subject to the provisions 
of this act shall print and keep for public inspection schedules 
showing the rates and fares and charges for the transportation 
of passengers and property which any such common carrier has 
established and which are in force at the time upon its railroad, as 
defined by the first section of this act. The schedules printed as 
aforesaid by any such common carrier shall plainly state the places 
upon its railroad between which property and passengers will be 
carried, and shall contain the classification of freight in force upon 
such railroad, and shall also state separately the terminal charges 
and any rules or regulations which in any wise change, affect, or 
determine any part or the aggregate of such aforesaid rates and 
fares and charges. Such schedules shall be plainly printed in 
large type, . . . and copies for the use of the public shall be kept 
in every depot or station upon any such railroad, in such places 
and in such form that they can be conveniently inspected. 

No advance shall be made in the rates, fares, and charges 
which have been established and published as aforesaid by any 
common carrier in compliance with the requirements of this sec- 



188;] INTERSTATE COMMERCE ACT 585 

tion, except after ten days' public notice, which shall plainly state 
the changes proposed to be made in the schedule then in force, 
and the time when the increased rates, fares, or charges will go 
into effect. . . . Reductions in such published rates, fares, or 
charges may be made without previous pubhc notice; but when- 
ever any such reduction is made, notice of the same shall imme- 
diately be publicly posted. . . . 

And when any such common carrier shall have established and 
published its rates, fares, and charges in compliance with the pro- 
visions of this section, it shall be unlawful for such common carrier 
to charge, demand, collect, or receive from any person or persons 
a greater or less compensation for the transportation of passengers 
or property, or for any services in connection therewith, than is 
specified in such published schedule of rates, fares, and charges as 
may at the time be in force. 

Every common carrier subject to the provisions of this act shall 
file with the Commission hereinafter provided for copies of its 
schedules of rates, fares, and charges which have been established 
and published in compliance with the requirements of this section, 
and shall promptly notify said Commission of all changes made in 
the same. Every such common carrier shall also file with said 
Commission copies of all contracts, agreements, or arrangements 
with other common carriers in relation to any traffic affected by 
the provisions of this act to which it may be a party. And in 
cases where passengers and freight pass over continuous lines or 
routes operated by more than one common carrier, and the several 
common carriers operating such lines or routes establish joint 
tariffs of rates or fares or charges for such continuous lines or 
routes, copies of such joint tariffs shall also, in like manner, be 
filed with said Commission. . . . 

Sec. 7. That it shall be unlawful for any common carrier subject 
to the proWsions of this act to enter into any combination, contract, 
or agreement, expressed or implied, to prevent, by change of time 
schedule, carriage in different cars, or by other means or devices, 
the carriage of freights from being continuous from the place of 
shipment to the place of destination ; and no break of bulk, stop- 
page, or interruption made by such common carrier shall prevent 
the carriage of freights from being and being treated as one con- 



586 INTERSTATE COMMERCE ACT [Feb. 4 

tinuous carriage from the place of shipment to the place of desti- 
nation, unless such break, stoppage, or interruption was made in 
good faith for some necessary purpose, and without any intent to 
avoid or unnecessarily interrupt such continuous carriage or to 
evade any of the provisions of this act. 

Sec. 8. That in case any common carrier subject to the pro- 
visions of this act shall do, cause to be done, or permit to be done 
any act, matter, or thing in this act prohibited or declared to be 
unlawful, or shall omit to do any act, matter, or thing in this act 
required to be done, such common carrier shall be liable to the 
person or persons injured thereby for the full amount of damages 
sustained in consequence of any such violation of the provisions 
of this act, together with a reasonable counsel or attorney's fee, to 
be fixed by the court in every case of recovery, which attorney's 
fee shall be taxed and collected as part of the costs in the case. 

Sec. 9. That any person or persons claiming to be damaged by 
any common carrier subject to the provisions of this act may 
either make complaint to the Commission as hereinafter provided 
for, or may bring suit in his or their own behalf for the recovery 
of the damages for which such common carrier may be liable 
under the provisions of this act, in any district or circuit court of 
the United States of competent jurisdiction ... In any such 
action brought for the recovery of damages the court before which 
the same shall be pending may compel any director, officer, re- 
ceiver, trustee, or agent of the corporation or company defendant in 
such suit to attend, appear, and testify in such case, and may com- 
pel the production of the books and papers of such corporation 
or company party to any such suit ; the claim that any such testi- 
mony or evidence may tend to criminate the person giving such 
evidence shall not excuse such witness from testifying, but such 
evidence or testimony shall not be used against such person on 
the trial of any criminal proceeding. 

Sec. 10. That any common carrier subject to the pro\asions of 
this act, or, whenever such common carrier is a corporation, any 
director or officer thereof, or any receiver, trustee, lessee, agent, 
or person acting for or employed by such corporation, who, alone 
or with any other corporation, company, person, or party, shall 
willfully do or cause to be done, or shall wilHngly suffer or permit 
to be done, any act, matter, or thing in this act prohibited or 



1887] INTERSTATE COMMERCE ACT 587 

declared to be unlawful, or who shall aid or abet therein, or who 
shall willfully omit or fail to do any act, matter, or thing in this act 
required to be done, or shall cause or willingly suffer or permit 
any act, matter, or thing so directed or required by this act to be 
done not to be done so, or shall aid or abet any such omission or 
failure, or shall be guilty of any infraction of this act, or shall aid 
or abet therein, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and 
shall, upon conviction thereof in any district court of the United 
States within the jurisdiction of which such offense was committed, 
be subject to a fine of not to exceed five thousand dollars for each 
offense. 

Sec. II. That a Commission is hereby created and established 
to be known as the Inter-State Commerce Commission, which shall 
be composed of five Commissioners, who shall be appointed by 
the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. 
The Commissioners first appointed under this act shall continue 
in office for the term of two, three, four, five, and six years, respec- 
tively, from . . . [January i, 1887] . . . , the term of each to be 
designated by the President ; but their successors shall be appointed 
for terms of six years. . . . Any Commissioner may be removed 
by the President for inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in 
ofl&ce. Not more than three of the Commissioners shall be ap- 
pointed from the same political party. No person in the employ 
of or holding any official relation to any common carrier subject 
to the provisions of this act, or owning stock or bonds thereof, 
or who is in any manner pecuniarily interested therein, shall enter 
upon the duties of or hold such office. Said Commissioners shall 
not engage in any other business, vocation, or employment. No 
vacancy in the Commission shall impair the right of the remain- 
ing Commissioners to exercise all the powers of the Commission. 

Sec. 12. That the Commission hereby created shall have author- 
ity to inquire into the management of the business of all common 
carriers subject to the provisions of this act, and shall keep itself 
informed as to the manner and method in which the same is con- 
ducted, and shall have the right to obtain from such common 
carriers full and complete information necessary to enable the 
Commission to perform the duties and carry out the objects for 
which it was created; and for the purposes of this act the Com- 
mission shall have power to require the attendance and testimony 



588 INTERSTATE COMMERCE ACT [Feb. 4 

of witnesses and the production of all books, papers, tariflfs, con- 
tracts, agreements, and documents relating to any matter under 
investigation, and to that end may invoke the aid of any court of 
the Uniled States in requiring the attendance and testimony of 
witnesses and the production of books, papers, and documents 
under the provisions of this section. 

Sec. 13. That any person, firm, corporation, or association, or 
any mercantile, agricultural, or manufacturing society, or any body 
politic or municipal organization complaining of anything done 
or omitted to be done by any common carrier subject to the pro- 
visions of this act in contravention of the provisions thereof, may 
apply to said Commission by petition, which shall briefly state the 
facts; whereupon a statement of the charges thus made shall be 
forwarded by the Commission to such common carrier, who shall 
be called upon to satisfy the complaint or to answer the same in 
vmting ^^^thin a reasonable time, to be specified by the Commis- 
sion. If such common carrier, within the time specified, shall 
make reparation for the injury alleged to have been done, said car- 
rier shall be relieved of liability to the complainant only for the 
particular violation of law thus complained of. If such carrier 
shall not satisfy the complaint within the time specified, or there 
shall appear to be any reasonable ground for investigating said 
complaint, it shall be the duty of the Commission to investigate 
the matters complained of in such manner and by such means as 
it shall deem proper. 

Said Commission shall in like manner investigate any complaint 
forwarded by the railroad commissioner or railroad commission of 
any State or Territory, at the request of such commissioner or 
commission, and may institute any inquiry on its own motion in 
the same manner and to the same eflfect as though complaint had 
been made. . . . 

Sec. 15. That if in any case in which an investigation shall be 
made by said Commission it shall be made to appear to the satis- 
faction of the Commission, either by the testimony of witnesses 
or other exidence, that anything has been done or omitted to be 
done in violation of the prox'isions of this act, or of any law cog- 
nizable by said Commission, by any common carrier, or that any 



1887] INTERSTATE COMMERCE ACT ■ 589 

injury or damage has been sustained by the party or parties com- 
plaining, or by other parties aggrieved in consequence of any such 
violation, it shall be the duty of the Commission to forthwith cause 
a copy of its report in respect thereto to be delivered to such 
common carrier, together with a notice to said common carrier 
to cease and desist from such violation, or to make reparation for 
the injury so found to have been done, or both, within a reason- 
able time, to be specified by the Commission; and if, within the 
time specified, it shall be made to appear to the Commission that 
such common carrier has ceased from such violation of law, and 
has made reparation for the injury found to have been done, in 
compliance with the report and notice of the Commission, or to 
the satisfaction of the party complaining, a statement to that efifect 
shall be entered of record by the Commission, and the said com- 
mon carrier shall thereupon be relieved from further liability or 
penalty for such particular violation of law. 

Sec. 16. That whenever any common carrier, as defined in and 
subject to the provisions of this act, shall violate or refuse or neg- 
lect to obey any lawful order or requirement of the Commission 
in this act named, it shall be the duty of the Commission, and 
lawful for any company or person interested in such order or re- 
quirement, to apply, in a summary way, by petition, to the circuit 
court of the United States sitting in equity in the judicial district 
in which the common carrier complained of has its principal office, 
or in which the violation or disobedience of such order or require- 
ment shall happen, alleging such violation or disobedience, as the 
case may be; and the said court shall have power to hear and 
determine the matter, on such short notice to the common carrier 
complained of as the court shall deem reasonable . . . When 
the subject in dispute shall be of the value of two thousand dollars 
or more, either party to such proceeding before said court may 
appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States. . . . 

Sec. 20. That the Commission is hereby authorized to require 
annual reports from all common carriers subject to the provisions 
of this act, to fix the time and prescribe the manner in which such 
reports shall be made, and to require from such carriers specific 
answers to all questions upon which the Commission may need 
information. Such annual reports shall show in detail the amount 



590 ' INTERSTATE COMMERCE ACT [Feb. 4 

of capital stock issued, the amounts paid therefor, and the manner 
of payment for the same; the dividends paid, the surplus fund, 
if any, and the number of stockholders; the funded and floating 
debts and the interest paid thereon; the cost and value of the 
carrier's property, franchises, and equipment ; the number of em- 
ployees and the salaries paid each class; the amounts expended 
for improvements each year, how expended, and the character of 
such improvements; the earnings and receipts from each branch 
of business and from all sources; the operating and other ex- 
penses; the balances of profit and loss; and a complete exhibit 
of the financial operations of the carrier each year, including an 
annual balance-sheet. Such reports shall also contain such infor- 
mation in relation to rates or regulations concerning fares or 
freights, or agreements, arrangements, or contracts with other 
common carriers, as the Commission may require; and the said 
Commission may, within its discretion, for the purpose of enabling 
it the better to carry out the purposes of this act, prescribe (if in 
the opinion of the Commission it is practicable to prescribe such 
uniformity and methods of keeping accounts) a period of time 
within which all common carriers subject to the provisions of this 
act shall have, as near as may be, a uniform system of accounts, 
and the manner in which such accounts shall be kept. 

Sec. 22. That nothing in this act shall apply to the carriage, 
storage, or handling of property free or at reduced rates for the 
United States, State, or municipal governments, or for charitable 
purposes, or to or from fairs and expositions for exhibition thereat, 
or the issuance of mileage, excursion, or commutation passenger 
tickets : nothing in this act shall be construed to prohibit any 
common carrier from giving reduced rates to ministers of reli- 
gion; nothing in this act shall be construed to prevent railroads 
from giving free carriage to their own officers and employees, or 
to prevent the principal officers of any railroad company or com- 
panies from exchanging passes or tickets with other railroad com- 
panies for their officers and employees; and nothing in this act 
contained shall in any way abridge or alter the remedies now 
existing at common law or by statute, but the provisions of this 
act are in addition to such remedies: Provided, That no pending 
litigation shall in any way be affected by this act. 



iSSy] ANTI-TRUST ACT 59 1 



No. 181. Anti-Trust Act 

July 2, 1890 

Several bills for the regulation of trusts came before Congress during the 
session of 188S-1889, but none got beyond the stage of discussion. A bill 
"to declare unlawful trusts and combinations in restraint of trade and pro- 
duction" was introduced in the Senate December 4, 1889, by Sherman, and 
referred to the Committee on Finance, which reported it with amendments 
January 14, 1890. The bill was taken up February 27 and debated until 
March 27, when it was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary with in- 
structions to report within twenty days. A substitute was reported April 2, 
and on the 8th passed the Senate with amendments. The House amended 
the bill so as to make unlawful "every contract or agreement entered into 
for the purpose of preventing competition in the sale or purchase of a com- 
modity transported from one State to be sold in another." The Senate added 
further amendments, to which the House disagreed, and the bill went to a 
conference committee, which recommended that each house recede from its 
amendments. The acceptance of the report resulted in the passage of the 
Senate bill. 

References. — Text in U.S. Statutes at Large, XXVI., 209, 210. For the 
proceedings see the House and Senate Journals, 51st Cong., ist Sess., and 
the Cong. Record. The te.xt of Sherman's original bill is in the Record, Feb- 
ruary 27. The report of the House Committee on the Judiciary, April 25, 
is House Report 1707; for an earlier report on the investigation of trusts see 
House Report 3112, 50th Cong., ist Sess. For decisions under the act to 
1904 see Gould and Tucker, Notes on the Revised Statutes, II., 622, 623; 
III., 710-712. 

An act to protect trade and commerce against unlawful restraints and 
monopolies. 

Be it enacted . . . , 

Sec. I. Every contract, combination in the form of trust or 
otherwise, or conspiracy, in restraint of trade or commerce 
among the several States, or with foreign nations, is hereby de- 
clared to be illegal. Every person who shall make any such 
contract or engage in any such combination or conspiracy, shall 
be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and, on conviction thereof, 
shall be punished by fine not exceeding five thousand dollars, 
or by imprisonment not exceeding one year, or by both said 
punishments, in the discretion of the court. 

Sec. 2. Every person who shall monopolize, or attempt to 
monopolize, or combine or conspire with any other person or 



592 ANTI-TRUST ACT [July 2 

persons, to monopolize any part of the trade or commerce among 
the several States, or with foreign nations, shall be deemed guilty 
of a misdemeanor, and, on conviction thereof, shall be punished 
by fine not exceeding five thousand dollars, or by imprisonment 
not exceeding one year, or by both said punishments, in the 
discretion of the court. 

Sec. 3. Every contract, combination in form of trust or other- 
wise, or conspiracy, in restraint of trade or commerce in any 
Territory of the United States or of the District of Columbia, or 
in restraint of trade or commerce between any such Territory 
and another, or between any such Territory or Territories and 
any State or States or the District of Columbia, or with foreign 
nations, or between the District of Columbia and any State 
or States or foreign nations, is hereby declared illegal. Every 
person who shall make any such contract or engage in any 
such combination or conspiracy, shall be deemed guilty of a 
misdemeanor, and, on conviction thereof, shall be punished by 
fine not exceeding five thousand dollars, or by imprisonment not 
exceeding one year, or by both said punishments, in the discre- 
tion of the court. 

Sec. 4. The several circuit courts of the United States are 
hereby invested with jurisdiction to prevent and restrain violations 
of this act; and it shall be the duty of the several district attor- 
neys of the United States, in their respective districts, under the 
direction of the Attorney-General, to institute proceedings in 
equity to prevent and restrain such violations. . . . 

Sec. 6. Any property owned under any contract or by any 
combination, or pursuant to any conspiracy (and being the sub- 
ject thereof) mentioned in section one of this act, and being in 
the course of transportation from one State to another, or to a 
foreign country, shall be forfeited to the United States, and may 
be seized and condemned by like proceedings as those provided 
by law for the forfeiture, seizure, and condemnation of property 
imported into the United States contrary to law. 

Sec. 7. Any person who shall be injured in his business or 
property by any other person or corporation by reason of any- 
thing forbidden or declared to be unlawful by this act, may sue 
therefor in any circuit court of the United States in the district 



1890] SILVER PURCHASE ACT 593 

in which the defendant resides or is found, without respect to the 
amount in controversy, and shall recover three fold the damages 
by him sustained, and the costs of suit, including a reasonalDle 
attorney's fee. 

Sec. 8. That the word "person," or "persons," wherever used 
in this act shall be deemed to include corporations and associa- 
tions existing under or authorized by the laws of either the United 
States, the laws of any of the Territories, the laws of any State, 
or the laws of any foreign country. 



No. 182. Silver Purchase Act 

July 14, 1890 

In his annual message of December 3, 1889, President Harrison called 
attention to the decline in the market price of silver, and expressed fear of the 
effect of a further decline on the value of gold and silver dollars in com- 
mercial transactions. The accompanying report of the Secretary of the 
Treasury proposed the issue of treasury notes "against deposits of silver 
bullion at the market price of silver when deposited, payable on demand in 
such quantities of silver bullion as will equal in value, at the date of presenta- 
tion, the number of dollars expressed on the face of the notes at the market 
price of silver, or in gold, at the option of the Government, or in silver dollars 
at the option of the holder"; together with "the repeal of the compulsory 
feature of the present coinage act." A bill authorizing the issue of treasury 
notes on deposits of silver bullion was introduced in the House January 20, 
1890, by E. H. Conger of Iowa, and referred to the Committee on Coinage, 
Weights, and Measures. The bill was reported April 9. Another bill direct- 
ing the purchase of silver bullion and the issue of treasury notes thereon was 
introduced by Conger April 24, and referred; June 5 an amended form of 
this bill was substituted for the bill already before the House, and the bill 
passed, the vote being 135 to 119, 73 not voting. In the meantime a bill 
prepared by the Secretary of the Treasury, in accordance with the recom- 
mendations of his annual report, had been introduced in the Senate January 
20, by Morrill of Vermont, by request, had been taken up March 31, and was 
under consideration when the House bill was received. June 13 the House 
bill was substituted for the bill before the Senate. On the 17th a free coin- 
age amendment, offered by Plumb of Kansas, was agreed to by a vote of 43 to 
24, and the amended bill passed, the final vote being 42 to 25, 17 not voting. 
The House disagreed to the Senate amendments, and a conference commit- 
tee settled the final form of the bill. The report of the committee was agreed 
to by the Senate July 10, by a vote of 39 to 26, and by the House July 12, by 
a vote of 122 to 90, 116 not voting. So much of the act as provided for the 

2Q 



594 SILVER PURCHASE ACT [July 14 

purchase of silver bullion and the issue of notes thereon was repealed by the 
act of November i, 1S93 [No. 183]. 

References. — Text in U.S. StatiUes at Large, XXVI., 289, 290. For the 
proceedings see the House and Senate Journals, 51st Cong., ist Sess., and the 
Cong. Record. The texts of the bills of April 24 and June 5 are in the Rec- 
ord, June 7, House proceedings. On Conger's bill of January 29 see House 
Report 1086. On the amount of coinage under the act see Senate Doc. 163, 
55th Cong., 2d Sess. 



An act directing the purchase of silver bullion and the issue of Treasury notes 
thereon, and for other purposes. 

Be it enacted . . . , That the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby 
directed to purchase, from time to time, silver bullion to the 
aggregate amount of four million five hundred thousand ounces, 
or so much thereof as may be offered in each month, at the market 
price thereof, not exceeding one dollar for three hundred and 
seventy-one and twenty-five hundredths grains of pure silver, 
and to issue in payment for such purchases of silver bullion 
Treasury notes of the United States to be prepared by the Secretary 
of the Treasury, in such form and of such denominations, not less 
than one dollar nor more than one thousand dollars, as he may 
prescribe. . . . 

Sec. 2. That the Treasury notes issued in accordance with the 
provisions of this act shall be redeemable on demand, in coin, at 
the Treasury of the United States, or at the office of any assistant 
treasurer of the United States, and when so redeemed may be 
reissued; but no greater or less amount of such notes shall be 
outstanding at any time than the cost of the silver bullion and 
the standard silver dollars coined therefrom, then held in the 
Treasury purchased by such notes ; and such Treasury notes shall 
be a legal tender in payment of all debts, public and private, 
except where otherwise expressly stipulated in the contract, and 
shall be receivable for customs, taxes, and all public dues, and 
when so received may be reissued; and such notes, when held 
by any national banking association, may be counted as a part 
of its lawful reserve. That upon demand of the holder of any 
of the Treasury notes herein provided for the Secretary of the 
Treasury shall, under such regulations as he may prescribe, redeem 
such notes in gold or silver coin, at his discretion, it being the 
established policy of the United States to maintain the two metals 



1890] REPEAL OF SILVER PURCHASE ACT 595 

on a parity with each other upon the present legal ratio, or such 
ratio as may be provided by law. 

Sec. 3. That the Secretary of the Treasury shall each month 
coin two million ounces of the silver bullion purchased under the 
provisions of this act into standard silver dollars until . . . [July 
I, 1 891] . . . , and after that time he shall coin of the silver bullion 
purchased under the provisions of this act as much as may be 
necessary to provide for the redemption of the Treasury notes 
herein provided for, and any gain or seigniorage arising from 
such coinage shall be accounted for and paid into the Treasury. 

Sec. 5. That so much of the act of . . . [February 28, 1878] 
. . . , entitled "An act to authorize the coinage of the standard 
silver dollar and to restore its legal-tender character," as requires 
the monthly purchase and coinage of the same into silver dollars 
of not less than two million dollars, nor more than four million 
dollars' worth of silver bulUon, is hereby repealed. 



No. 183. Repeal of the Silver Purchase Act 

of 1890 

November i, 1893 

A BILL to repeal the silver purchase act of July 14, 1890 [No. 182], was 
introduced in the House August 11, 1893, by William L. Wilson of West 
Virginia. A free coinage substitute was offered by Bland of Missouri. On 
motion of Bland it was agreed that the debate should continue for fourteen 
days, eleven days to be allotted to general debate under the rules of the last 
House, and the last three days to the consideration of the bill and amend- 
ments under the five-minute rule; that upon the close of the debate, votes 
should be taken in the following order: on free coinage of silver at the pres- 
ent ratio, then at the ratio of 17 to i, then at the ratio of 18 to i, then at the 
ratio of 19 to i, and finally at the ratio of 20 to i; and that in the event of 
these several votes resulting in the negative, the House should vote on an 
amendment to revive the so-called Bland-Allison act of February 28, 1878 
[No. 178]. The bill was then taken up, and formed the principal subject of 
debate until August 28. The disastrous panic, due in part to the anxiety 
caused by the shrinkage of the gold reserve notwithstanding the rapid increase 
in the volume of silver certificates, made the debate one of extraordinary public 



596 REPEAL OF SILVER PURCHASE ACT [Nov. > 

interest, while the advocates of silver carried on a vigorous agitation for free 
coinage in the event of a repeal of the compulsory purchase clause of the act 
of 1890. The votes taken August 28 resulted as follows: on the free coin- 
age substitute, 125 to 226; on free coinage at the ratio of 17 to i, loi to 241 ; 
at 18 to I, 103 to 240; at 19 to I, 104 to 238; at 20 to i, 122 to 222; on 
reviving the Bland-Allison act, 136 to 213. The bill was then read a third 
time and passed, the vote being 239 to 109, 5 not voting. The Senate had 
under consideration a bill to the same effect as the House bill, so far as repeal- 
ing the purchase clause of the act of 1890 was concerned; August 29 this was 
reported by the Committee on Finance as a substitute for the House bill. 
The bill was not considered until October 30, when the substitute was agreed 
to and the bill passed, the final vote being 43 to 32. November i, by a vote 
of 194 to 94, 65 not voting, the House concurred in the Senate amendment. 
A bill to "coin the seigniorage" was vetoed by President Cleveland May 27, 
1894. 

References. — Text in U. S. Statutes at Large, XXVIII. , 4, 5. For the 
proceedings see the House and Senate Journals, 53d Cong., ist Sess., and the 
Cong. Record. Practically every aspect of the silver question was touched on 
in the debate. 

An Act to repeal a part of . . . [the Silver Purchase Act of July 14, 1890]. 

Be it enacted . . . , That so much of the . . . [Silver Purchase 
Act of July 14, 1890] . . . , as directs the Secretary of the Treasury 
to purchase from time to time silver bullion to the aggregate 
amount of four million five hundred thousand ounces, or so much 
thereof as may be offered in each month at the market price 
thereof, not exceeding one dollar for three hundred and seventy- 
one and twenty-five one-hundredths grains of pure silver, and to 
issue in payment for such purchases Treasury notes of the United 
States, be, and the same is hereby, repealed. And it is hereby 
declared to be the policy of the United States to continue the 
use of both gold and silver as standard money, and to coin both 
gold and silver into money of equal intrinsic and exchangeable 
value, such equality to be secured through international agree- 
ment, or by such safeguards of legislation as will insure the main- 
tenance of the parity in value of the coins of the two metals, and 
the equal power of every dollar at all times in the markets and in 
the pajmient of debts. And it is hereby further declared that the 
efforts of the Government should be steadily directed to the estab- 
lishment of such a safe system of bimetallism as will maintain at 
all times the equal power of every dollar coined or issued by the 
United States, in the markets and in the payment of debts. 



1893] INDEPENDENCE OF CUBA 597 

No. 184. Recognition of the Independence 

of Cuba 

April 20, 1898 

In his annual message of December 6, 1897, President McKinley reviewed 
the course of the insurrection which had been in progress in Cuba since 
February, 1895, but opposed the recognition of Cuban belligerency. A reso- 
lution recognizing the independence of Cuba, being the same as the resolu- 
tion finally adopted, but without the fourth section, was reported in the 
Senate April 13, 1898, by Cushman K. Davis of Minnesota, from the Com- 
mittee on Foreign Relations. An amendment offered on the i6th by David 
Turpie of Indiana, recognizing the Republic of Cuba "as the true and law- 
ful government of that island," was agreed to by a vote of 51 to 37 ; and, with 
the further addition of the fourth section, offered as an amendment by Davis, 
the resolution passed. A resolution directing the President to intervene to 
put an end to the war in Cuba "to the end and with the purpose of securing 
permanent peace and order there and establishing by the free action of the 
people thereof a stable and independent government of their own," was re- 
ported in the House April 13, by Robert Adams of Pennsylvania, from the 
Committee on Foreign Affairs, as a substitute for numerous bills and resolu- 
tions previously submitted. A substitute recognizing the independence of the 
Republic of Cuba, offered by Albert S. Berry of Kentucky on behalf of the 
minority of the committee, was rejected by a vote of 150 to 190, and the reso- 
lution was agreed to, the final vote being 324 to 19. In the Senate, April 16, 
the House resolution was substituted for the resolution already before the 
Senate, and then amended by striking out the words of the House resolution 
and inserting the resolution of the Senate. On the i8th the House concurred 
with an amendment, offered by Nelson Dingley of Maine, striking out the 
clause recognizing the Republic of Cuba, the vote being 178 to 156. The 
Senate refusing to concur in the House amendment, the resolution went to a 
conference committee, which reported inability to agree, and a second com- 
mittee settled the final form of the resolution. The report of the second 
committee was agreed to in the House by a vote of 311 to 6, and in the 
Senate by a vote of 42 to 35 

References. — Text in V S. Statutes at Large, XXX., 738, 739. For the 
proceedings see the House and Senate Journals, 55th Cong., 2d Sess., and the 
Cong. Record. See also Senate Report 885; Senate Doc. 166 and Senate Re- 
port 1 1 60, 54th Cong., 2d Sess.; and the various messages of tht President. 
A large amount of documentary matter was printed in the Record in the 
course of the debate. 

Joint Resolution foi the recognition of the independence of the people of 
Cuba, demanding that the Government of Spain relinquish its authority 
and government in the Island of Cuba, and to withdraw its land and naval 
forces from Cuba and Cuban waters and directing the President of the 



598 DECLAIL\TION OF WAR [April 25 

United States to use the land and naval forces of the United States to 
carry these resolutions into effect. 

Whereas the abhorrent conditions which have existed for more 
than three years in the Island of Cuba, so near our own borders, 
have shocked the moral sense of the people of the United States, 
have been a disgrace to Christian ci\"ilization, culminating, as they 
have, in the destruction of a United States battle ship, with two 
hundred and sixty-sLx of its officers and crew, while on a friendly 
\'isit in the harbor of Havana, and can not longer be endured, as 
has been set forth by the President of the United States in his 
message to Congress of April eleventh, eighteen hundred and 
ninety-eight, upon which the action of Congress was invited: 
Therefore, 

Resolved . . . , First. That the people of the Island of Cuba 
are, and of right ought to be, free and independent. 

Second. That it is the duty of the United States to demand, 
and the Government of the United States does hereby demand, 
that the Government of Spain at once relinquish its authority and 
government in the Island of Cuba and withdraw its land and naval 
forces from Cuba and Cuban waters. 

Third. That the President of the United States be, and he 
hereby is, directed and empowered to use the entire land and 
naval forces of the United States, and to call into the actual ser- 
vice of the United States the militia of the several States, to such 
extent as may be necessary to carry these resolutions into effect. 

Fourth. That the United States hereby disclaims any disposi- 
tion or intention to exercise sovereignty, jurisdiction, or control 
over said Island except for the pacification thereof, and asserts its 
determination, when that is accompUshed, to leave the govern- 
ment and control of the Island to its people. 



No. 185. Declaration of War 

April 25, 1898 

The destruction of the battleship Maine in the harbor of Havana, on the 
night of February 15, 189S, was followed, March 9, by the appropriation 
of $50,000,000 for the national defence. .An account of the Maine affair, 
together with the findings of the court of inquiry, was laid before Congress 



1898] DECLARATION OF WAR 599 

by President McKinley in his message of March 28. April 1 1 the President 
aslied for authority to intervene and end the war in Cuba. On the 22d a 
blockade of the north coast of Cuba, and of Cienfuegos on the south coast, 
was proclaimed, and on the next day 125,000 volunteers were called for under 
authority of the joint resolution of April 20 [No. 184]. On the 25th the 
President announced the withdrawal of the Spanish minister, and recom- 
mended a declaration of war. A joint resolution was at once introduced 
in the House by Adams of Pennsylvania, from the Committee on Foreign 
Affairs, and passed both houses the same day without divisions. A proclama- 
tion regarding neutrals was issued April 26. May 25 a call for 75,000 addi- 
tional volunteers was issued. By a proclamation of June 27, the blockade 
was extended to the whole of the south coast of Cuba, and to San Juan, Porto 
Rico. Acts of July 8, 1898, and March 3, 1899, provided for the reimburse- 
ment to States of the expenses incurred by them on account of the war. 

References. — Text in U. S. Statutes at Large, XXX., 364. For the pro- 
ceedings see the House and Senate Journals, 55th Cong., 2d Sess., and the 
Cong. Record. There was no debate in the House, and the discussion in the 
Senate was with closed doors. For the correspondence with Spain see the 
Foreign Relations, 1897 and 1898. The report of the Maine court of inquiry 
is Senate Doc. 207, 55th Cong., 2d Sess.; the report on the investigation of 
the War Department, Senate Doc. 221, 56th Cong., ist Sess.; the "beef" in- 
quiry. Senate Doc. 270, ibid. See also Notes on the Spanish- American War, 
Senate Doc. 28S, ibid. 

An Act declaring that war exists between the United States of America and 
the Kingdom of Spain. 

Be it enacted . . . , First. That war be, and the same is hereby, 
declared to exist, and that war has existed since . . . [April 21, 
1898] . . . , including said day, between the United States of 
America and the Kingdom of Spain. 

Second. That the President of the United States be, and he 
hereby is, directed and empowered to use the entire land and 
naval forces of the United States, and to call into the actual ser- 
vice of the United States the militia of the several States, to such 
extent as may be necessary to carry this Act into effect. 



6oo ANNEXATION OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS [July 7 

No. 186. Annexation of the Hawaiian 
Islands 

July 7, 1898 

In January, 1893, Queen Liliuokalani of the Hawaiian Islands was forced 
to abdicate, and a provisional government was proclaimed, followed in Julv, 
1894, by the establishment of a republic. The constitution of the republic 
expressly authorized a treaty of "political or commercial union" with the 
United States. A treaty of annexation, concluded in 1893, was withdrawn by 
President Cleveland. A second treaty was signed June 16, 1S97, ^"d ratified 
by the Senate of Hawaii. On the outbreak of the war with Spain the United 
States assumed to use the islands as a naval base. May 4, 1898, while the 
treaty of annexation was pending, Francis G. Newlands of Nevada introduced 
a joint resolution for annexation, the resolution being one of several similar 
propositions which had been submitted to Congress. The terms proposed by 
the resolution were substantially the same as those embodied in the pending 
treaty. The resolution was reported without amendment May 17, but was 
not taken up until June 11. On the 15th a substitute declaring against the 
acquisition of the islands by any foreign power, and guaranteeing their inde- 
pendence, was rejected by a vote of 96 to 204, and the resolution passed, the 
final vote being 209 to 91. The resolution was reported in the Senate June 
17 without amendment, taken up on the 20th, and debated until July 6, 
when, by a vote of 42 to 21, it was agreed to. The formal transfer of the 
islands took place August 12. An act of April 30, 1900, provided a territo- 
rial form of government. 

References. — Text in U. S. Statutes at Large, XXX., 750, 751. For the 
proceedings see the House and Senate Journals, 55th Cong., 2d Sess., and the 
Cong. Record. See also Senate Report 681 and House Report 1355. The re- 
port of the Hawaiian commission is Senate Doc. 16, 55th Cong., 3d Sess. On 
the earlier relations with Hawaii see Senate Report 227 and House Exec. Doc. 
47, 53d Cong., 2d Sess. 

Joint Resolution To provide for annexing the Hawaiian Islands to the United 

States. 

Whereas the Government of the Repubhc of Hawaii having, in 
due form, signified its consent, in the manner provided by its 
constitution, to cede absolutely and without reserve to the United 
States of America all rights of sovereignty of whatsoever kind in 
and over the Hawaiian Islands and their dependencies, and also 
to cede and transfer to the United States the absolute fee and own- 
ership of all public. Government, or Crown lands, public buildings 
or edifices, ports, harbors, military equipment, and all other public 



1898] ANNEXATION OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS 601 

property of every kind and description belonging to the Govern- 
ment of the Hawaiian Islands, together with every right and ap- 
purtenance thereunto appertaining: Therefore, 

Resolved . . . , That said cession is accepted, ratified, and con- 
firmed, and that the said Hawaiian Islands and their dependencies 
be, and they are hereby, annexed as a part of the territory of the 
United States and are subject to the sovereign dominion thereof, 
and that all and singular the property and rights hereinbefore 
mentioned are vested in the United States of America. 

The existing laws of the United States relative to public lands 
shall not apply to such lands in the Hawaiian Islands; but the 
Congress of the United States shall enact special laws for their 
management and disposition : Provided, That all revenue from or 
proceeds of the same, except as regards such part thereof as 
may be used or occupied for the civil, military, or naval purposes of 
the. United States, or may be assigned for the use of the local gov- 
ernment, shall be used solely for the benefit of the inhabitants of 
the Hawaiian Islands for educational and other public purposes. 

Until Congress shall provide for the government of such islands 
all the civil, judicial, and military powers exercised by the ofi&cers 
of the existing government in said islands shall be vested in such 
person or persons and shall be exercised in such manner as the 
President of the United States shall direct; and the President 
shall have power to remove said ofl&cers and fill the vacancies so 
occasioned. 

The existing treaties of the Hawaiian Islands with foreign na- 
tions shall forthwith cease and determine, being replaced by such 
treaties as may exist, or as may be hereafter concluded, between 
the United States and such foreign nations. The municipal leg- 
islation of the Hawaiian Islands, not enacted for the fulfillment 
of the treaties so extinguished, and not inconsistent with this 
joint resolution nor contrary to the Constitution of the United 
States nor to any existing treaty of the United States, shall remain 
in force until the Congress of the United States shall otherwise 
determine. 

Until legislation shall be enacted extending the United States 
customs laws and regulations to the Hawaiian Islands the existing 
customs relations of the Hawaiian Islands with the United States 
and other countries shall remain unchanged. 



6o2 TREATY OF PARIS [Dec. lo 

The public debt of the Republic of Hawaii, lawfully existing 
at the date of the passage of this joint resolution, including the 
amounts due to depositors in the Hawaiian Postal Savings Bank, is 
hereby assumed by the Government of the United States ; but the 
Hability of the United States in this regard shall in no case exceed 
four million dollars. So long, however, as the existing Govern- 
ment and the present commercial relations of the Hawaiian 
Islands are continued as hereinbefore provided said Government 
shall continue to pay the interest on said debt. 

There shall be no further immigration of Chinese into the Ha- 
waiian Islands, except upon such conditions as are now or may 
hereafter be allowed by the laws of the United States; and no 
Chinese, by reason of anything herein contained, shall be allowed 
to enter the United States from the Hawaiian Islands. 

The President shall appoint five commissioners, at least two of 
whom shall be residents of the Hawaiian Islands, who shall, as 
soon as reasonably practicable, recommend to Congress such 
legislation concerning the Hawaiian Islands as they shall deem 
necessary or proper. 

Sec. 2. That the commissioners hereinbefore provided for 
shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and 
consent of the Senate. 



No. 187. Treaty of Paris 

December 10, i8g8 

Overtures for peace between the United States and Spain were begun 
July 26, 1898, through Jules Cambon, the French ambassador, resulting, 
August 12, in the signing of a protocol and the suspension of hostilities. 
Commissioners on the part of the United States were named August 26, 
Senator George Gray of Delaware being appointed, September 9, in place of 
Justice Edward D. White, who declined to serve. The commissioners of the 
two countries met at Paris October i, and December 10 concluded a treaty 
of peace. The Senate ratified the treaty February 6, 1899, and April 11 the 
treaty was proclaimed. The appropriation of $20,000,000 called for by 
Article III was made March 2. 

References. — Text in U. S. Statutes at Large, XXX., 1 754-1 762. For 
the protocols and other documents see Senate Doc. 62, 55th Cong., 3d Sess. 



TREATY OF PARIS 603 



Article I. 

Spain relinquishes all claim of sovereignty over and title to 
Cuba. 

And as the island is, upon its evacuation by Spain, to be oc- 
cupied by the United States, the United States will, so long as 
such occupation shall last, assume and discharge the obligations 
that may under international law result from the fact of its occupa- 
tion, for the protection of life and property. 

Article II. 

Spain cedes to the United States the island of Porto Rico and 
other islands now under Spanish sovereignty in the West Indies, 
and the island of Guam in the Marianas or Ladrones. 

Article III. 

Spain cedes to the United States the archipelago known as the 
Philippine Islands, and comprehending the islands lying within 
the following line: 

A line running from west to east along or near the twentieth 
parallel of north latitude, and through the middle of the navigable 
channel of Bachi, from the one hundred and eighteenth (ii8th) 
to the one hundred and twenty seventh (127th) degree meridian 
of longitude east of Greenwich, thence along the one hundred 
and twenty seventh (127th) degree meridian of longitude east of 
Greenwich to the parallel of four degrees and forty five minutes 
(4° 45') north latitude, thence along the parallel of four degrees 
and forty five minutes (4° 45') north latitude to its intersection 
with the meridian of longitude one hundred and nineteen degrees 
and thirty five minutes (119° 35') east of Greenwich, thence 
along the meridian of longitude one hundred and nineteen de- 
grees and thirty five minutes (119° 35') east of Greenwich to 
the parallel of latitude seven degrees and forty minutes (7° 40') 
north, thence along the parallel of latitude seven degrees and 
forty minutes (7° 40') north to its intersection with the one hundred 
and sixteenth (ii6th) degree meridian of longitude east of Green- 
wich, thence by a direct line to the intersection of the tenth (10th) 



6o4 ■ TREATY OF PARIS [Dec. lo 

degree parallel of north latitude with the one hundred and eigh- 
teenth (ii8th) degree meridian of longitude east of Greenwich, 
and thence along the one hundred and eighteenth (iiSth) degree 
meridian of longitude east of Greenwich to the point of beginning. 
The United States will pay to Spain the sum of twenty million 
dollars ($20,000,000) within three months after the exchainge of 
the ratifications of the present treaty. 

Article IV. 

The United States will, for the term of ten years from the date 
of the exchange of the ratifications of the present treaty, admit 
Spanish ships and merchandise to the ports of the Philippine 
Islands on the same terms as ships and merchandise of the United 
States. 

Article V. 

The United States will, upon the signature of the present treaty, 
send back to Spain, at its own cost, the Spanish soldiers taken 
as prisoners of war on the capture of Manila by the American 
forces. The arms of the soldiers in question shall be restored to 
them. 

Spain will, upon the exchange of the ratifications of the present 
treaty, proceed to evacuate the Philippines, as well as the island 
of Guam, on terms similar to those agreed upon by the Com- 
missioners appointed to arrange for the evacuation of Porto 
Rico and other islands in the West Indies, under the Protocol 
of August 12, 1898, which is to continue in force till its provi- 
sions are completely executed. 

Article VI. 

Spain will, upon the signature of the present treaty, release all 
prisoners of war, and all persons detained or imprisoned for politi- 
cal offences, in connection with the insurrections in Cuba and the 
Philippines and the war with the United States. 

Reciprocally, the United States will release all persons made 
prisoners of war by the American forces, and will undertake to 
obtain the release of all Spanish prisoners in the hands of the 
insurgents in Cuba and the Philippines. 



1898] TREATY OF PARIS 605 

The Government of the United States will at its own cost return 
to Spain and the Government of Spain will at its own cost return to 
the United States, Cuba, Porto Rico, and the Philippines, accord- 
ing to the situation of their respective homes, prisoners released or 
caused to be released by them, respectively, under this article. 

Article VII. 

The United States and Spain mutually relinquish all claims 
for indemnity, national and individual, of every kind, of either 
Government, or of its citizens or subjects, against the other Gov- 
ernment, that may have arisen since the beginning of the late 
insurrection in Cuba and prior to the exchange of ratifications 
of the present treaty, including all claims for indemnity for the 
cost of the war. 

The United States will adjudicate and settle the claims of its 
citizens against Spain relinquished in this article. 

Article VIII. 

In conformity with the provisions of Articles I, II, and III of this 
treaty, Spain relinquishes in Cuba, and cedes in Porto Rico and 
other islands in the West Indies, in the island of Guam, and in the 
Philippine Archipelago, all the buildings, wharves, barracks, forts, 
structures, public highways and other immovable property which, 
in conformity with law, belong to the public domain, and as such 
belong to the Crown of Spain. 

And it is hereby declared that the relinquishment or cession, 
as the case may be, to which the preceding paragraph refers, 
cannot in any respect impair the property or rights which by law 
belong to the peaceful possession of property of all kinds, of prov- 
inces, municipalities, public or private establishments, ecclesias- 
tical or civic bodies, or any other associations having legal capacity 
to acquire and possess property in the aforesaid territories re- 
nounced or ceded, or of private individuals, of whatsoever nation- 
ality such individuals may be. 

The aforesaid relinquishment or session, as the case may be, 
includes all documents exclusively referring to the sovereignty 
relinquished or ceded that may exist in the archives of the Penin- 
sula. Where any document in such archives only in part relates 



6o6 TREATY OF PARIS [Dec. lo 

to said sovereignty, a copy of such part will be furnished whenever 
it shall be requested. Like rules shall be reciprocally observed 
in favor of Spain in respect of documents in the archives of the 
islands above referred to. 

In the aforesaid relinquishment or cession, as the case may be, 
are also included such rights as the Crown of Spain and its authori- 
ties possess in respect of the official archives and records, execu- 
tive as well as judicial, in the islands above referred to, which 
relate to said islands or the rights and property of their inhabit- 
ants. Such archives and records shall be carefully preserved, 
and private persons shall without distinction have the right to 
require, in accordance with law, authenticated copies of the con- 
tracts, wills and other instruments forming part of notarial proto- 
cols or files, or which may be contained in the executive or judi- 
cial archives, be the latter in Spain or in the islands aforesaid. 

Article IX. 

Spanish subjects, natives of the Peninsula, residing in the terri- 
tory over which Spain by the present treaty relinquishes or cedes 
her sovereignty, may remain in such territory or may remove there- 
from, retaining in either event all their rights of property, includ- 
ing the right to sell or dispose of such property or of its proceeds ; 
and they shall also have the right to carry on their industry, com- 
merce and professions, being subject in respect thereof to such 
laws as are applicable to other foreigners. In case they remain 
in the territory they may preserve their allegiance to the Crown 
of Spain by making, before a court of record, within a year from 
the date of the exchange of ratifications of this treaty, a declaration 
of their decision to preserve such allegiance; in default of which 
declaration they shall be held to have renounced it and to have 
adopted the nationality of the territory in which they may reside. 

The civil rights and poHtical status of the native inhabitants of 
the territories hereby ceded to the United States shall be deter- 
mined by the Congress. 

Article X. 

The inhabitants of the territories over which Spain relinquishes 
or cedes her sovereignty shall be secured in the free exercise of 
their relitjion. 



1898] TREATY OF PARIS 607 



Article XI. 

The Spaniards residing in the territories over which Spain by 
this treaty cedes or rehnquishes her sovereignty shall be subject 
in matters civil as well as criminal to the jurisdiction of the courts 
of the country wherein they reside, pursuant to the ordinary laws 
governing the same; and they shall have the right to appear 
before such courts, and to pursue the same course as citizens of 
the country to which the courts belong. 

Article XII. 

Judicial proceedings pending at the time of the exchange of 
ratifications of this treaty in the territories over which Spain relin- 
quishes or cedes her sovereignty shall be determined according to 
the following rules: 

1. Judgments rendered either in civil suits between private 
individuals, or in criminal matters, before the date mentioned, 
and with respect to which there is no recourse or right of review 
under the Spanish law, shall be deemed to be final, and shall be 
executed in due form by competent authority in the territory 
within which such judgments should be carried out. 

2. Civil suits between private individuals which may on the 
date mentioned be undetermined shall be prosecuted to judgment 
before the court in which they may then be pending or in the 
court that may be substituted therefor. 

3. Criminal actions pending on the date mentioned before the 
Supreme Court of Spain against citizens of the territory which by 
this treaty ceases to be Spanish shall continue under its jurisdiction 
until final judgment; but, such judgment having been rendered, 
the execution thereof shall be committed to the competent authority 
of the place in which the case arose. 

Article XIII. 

The rights of property secured by copyrights and patents 
acquired by Spaniards in the Island of Cuba, and in Porto Rico, 
the Philippines and other ceded territories, at the time of the 
exchange of the ratifications of this treaty, shall continue to be 
respected. Spanish scientific, Uterary and artistic works, not 



6o8 TREATY OF PARIS [Dec. lo, 1898 

subversive of public order in the territories in question, shall con- 
tinue to be admitted free of duty into such territories, for the 
period of ten years, to be reckoned from the date of the exchange 
of the ratifications of this treaty. 

Article XIV. 

Spain shall have the power to establish consular officers in the 
ports and places of the territories, the sovereignty over which has 
been either relinquished or ceded by the present treaty. 

Article XV. 

The Government of each country will, for the term of ten years, 
accord to the merchant vessels of the other country the same 
treatment in respect of all port charges, including entrance and 
clearance dues, light dues, and tonnage duties, as it accords to 
its own merchant vessels, not engaged in the coastwise trade. 

This article may at any time be terminated on six months' 
notice given by either Government to the other. 

Article XVI. 

It is understood that any obligations assumed in this treaty by 
the United States with respect to Cuba are limited to the time of 
its occupancy thereof; but it will upon the termination of such 
occupancy, advise any Government established in the island to 
assume the same obligations. 

' Signed in duplicate, in Spanish and English. The English text is signed: 
"William R. Day, Cushman K. Davis, Wm. P. Frye, Geo. Gray Whitelaw 
Reid." The Spanish text is signed: "Eugenio Montero Rios, B. de Abarzuza, 
J. de Garnica, W R de Villa Urrutia, Rafael Cerero." — Ed. 



March 14, 1900] GOLD STANDARD ACT 609 



No. 188. Gold Standard Act 

March 14, igoo 

A BILL embodying the recommendations of the Indianapolis Monetary- 
Commission was introduced in the House, January 6, 1898, by Jesse Over- 
street of Indiana, and referred to the Committee on Banking and Currency, 
but was not reported. A bill with the same title as that of the act below was 
introduced by Overstreet December 4, 1899, taken up under special order 
on the nth, and considered until the i8th, when it passed the House, which 
had not yet completed its organization by the appointment of committees, 
by a vote of 190 to 150, 14 not voting. A substitute for the House bill, 
reported by the Senate Committee on Finance the next day, passed the 
Senate with amendments February 15, 1900, by a vote pf 46 to 29, 11 not 
voting. The bill was given its final form by a conference committee, the 
report of the committee being agreed to by the Senate, March 6, by a vote 
of 44 to 26, 17 not voting, and by the House, March 13, by a vote of 166 
to 120, 10 answering "present," and 54 not voting. On the 14th the act 
was approved. A coinage system for the Philippine Islands was established 
by an act of March 2, 1903. 

References. — Text in U. S. Stat, at Large, XXXI., 45-50. For the 
debates see the Cong. Record, s6th Cong., ist Sess. The text of the con- 
ference report, with a statement of the House conferees, is in the Record 
for March 7. See also the Report of the Indianapolis Monetary Commission 
(1898); Dewey, Financial History of the U. S. (3d ed., 1907), 468-473; 
Hepburn, History of Coinage and Currency, chap. 18. 

An Act To define and fix the standard of value, to maintain the parity 
of all forms of money issued or coined by the United States, to refund 
the public debt, and for other purposes. 

Be it enacted . . . , That the dollar consisting of twenty-five 
and eight-tenths grains of gold nine-tenths fine, as established 
by section thirty-five hundred and eleven of the Revised Statutes 
of the United States, shall be the standard unit of value, and all 
forms of money issued or coined by the United States shall be 
maintained at a parity of value with this standard, and it shall 
be the duty of the Secretary of the Treasury to maintain such 
parity. 

Sec. 2. That United States notes, and Treasury notes 
issued under the Act of . . . [July 14, 1890] . . . , when pre- 
sented to the Treasury for redemption, shall be redeemed in 
gold coin of the standard fixed in the first section of this Act, 
and in order to secure the prompt and certain redemption of 



6io GOLD STANDARD ACT [March 14 

such notes as herein provided it shall be the duty of the Secre- 
tary of the Treasury to set apart in the Treasury a reserve fund 
of one hundred and fifty million dollars in gold coin and bullion, 
which fund shall be used for such redemption purposes only, 
and whenever and as often as any of said notes shall be redeemed 
from said fund it shall be the duty of the Secretary of the Treas- 
ury to use said notes so redeemed to restore and maintain such 
reserve fund in the manner following, to wit : First, by exchang- 
ing the notes so redeemed for any gold coin in the general 
fund of the Treasury; second, by accepting deposits of gold 
coin at the Treasury or at any subtreasury in exchange for the 
United States notes so redeemed ; third, by procuring gold coin 
by the use of said notes, in accordance with the provisions of 
section thirty-seven hundred of the Revised Statutes of the 
United States. If the Secretary of the Treasury is unable to 
restore and maintain the gold coin in the reserve fund by the 
foregoing methods, and the amount of such gold coin and 
bullion in said fund shall at any time fall below one hundred 
million dollars, then it shall be his duty to restore the same to 
the maximum sum of one hundred and fifty million dollars 
by borrowing money on the credit of the United States, and for 
the debt thus incurred to issue and sell coupon or registered 
bonds of the United States, in such form as he may prescribe, 
in denominations of fifty dollars or any multiple thereof, bear- 
ing interest at the rate of not exceeding three per centum per 
annum, payable quarterly, such bonds to be payable at the 
pleasure of the United States after one year from the date of 
their issue, and to be payable, principal and interest, in gold 
coin of the present standard value, and to be exempt from the 
payment of all taxes or duties of the United States, as well as 
from taxation in any form by or under State, municipal, or 
local authority; and the gold coin received from the sale of 
said bonds shall first be covered into the general fund of the 
Treasury and then exchanged, in the manner hereinbefore pro- 
vided, for an equal amount of the notes redeemed and held for 
exchange, and the Secretary of the Treasury may, in his dis- 
cretion, use said notes in exchange for gold, or to purchase or 
redeem any bonds of the United States, or for any other lawful 
purpose the pubUc interests may require, except that they shall 



I900] GOLD STANDARD ACT 6ll 

not be used to meet deficiencies in the current revenues. That 
United States notes when redeemed in accordance with the 
provisions of this section shall be reissued, but shall be held 
in the reserve fund until exchanged for gold, as herein provided ; 
and the gold coin and bullion in the reserve fund, together 
with the redeemed notes held for use as provided in this sec- 
tioa, shall at no time exceed the maximum sum of one hundred 
and fifty million dollars. 

Sec. 3. That nothing contained in this Act shall be con- 
strued to affect the legal-tender quality as now provided by 
law of the silver dollar, or of any other money coined or issued 
by the United States. 

Sec. 4. [Divisions of issue and redemption to be established 
in the Treasury Department.] 

Sec. 5. That it shall be the duty of the Secretary of the 
Treasury, as fast as standard silver dollars are coined under 
the provisions of the Acts of . . . [July 14, 1890, and June 13, 
1898] . . . , from bullion purchased under the Act of ... 
[July 14, 1890] . . . , to retire and cancel an equal amount of 
Treasury notes whenever received into the Treasury, either by 
exchange in accordance with the provisions of this Act or in 
the ordinary course of business, and upon the cancellation of 
Treasury notes silver certificates shall be issued against the 
silver dollars so coined. 

Sec. 6. That the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby author- 
ized and directed to receive deposits of gold coin with the 
Treasurer or any assistant treasurer of the United States in 
sums of not less than twenty dollars, and to issue gold certifi- 
cates therefor in denominations of not less than twenty dollars, 
and the coin so deposited shall be retained in the Treasury 
and held for the payment of such certificates on demand, and 
used for no other purpose. Such certificates shall be receivable 
for customs, taxes, and all public dues, and when so received 
may be reissued, and when held by any national banking asso- 
ciation may be counted as a part of its lawful reserve : Pro- 
vided,^ That whenever and so long as the gold coin held in the 
reserve fund in the Treasury for the redemption of United States 

1 Amended by acts of May 26, iqo6 {U. S. Stat, at Large, XXXIV., Part i, 
202), and March 4, igo? {ibid., XXXIV., Part i, 1289, 1290). — Ed. 



6l2 GOLD STANDARD ACT [March 14 

notes and Treasury notes shall fall and remain below one hun- 
dred million dollars the authority to issue certificates as herein 
provided shall be suspended: And provided further, That 
whenever and so long as the aggregate amount of United States 
notes and silver certificates in the general fund of the Treasury 
shall exceed sixty million dollars the Secretary of the Treasury 
may, in his discretion, suspend the issue of the certificates herein 
provided for : And provided further, That of the amount of such 
outstanding certificates one-fourth at least shall be in denom- 
inations of fifty dollars or less : And provided further, That the 
Secretary of the Treasury may, in his discretion, issue such 
certificates in denominations of ten thousand dollars, payable 
to order. [Sec. 5193 of Revised Statutes repealed.] 

Sec. 7. That hereafter silver certificates shall be issued 
only of denominations of ten dollars and under, except that not 
exceeding in the aggregate ten per centum of the total volume 
of said certificates, in the discretion -of the Secretary of the 
Treasury, may be issued in denominations of twenty dollars, 
fifty dollars, and one hundred dollars ; and silver certificates 
of higher denomination than ten dollars, except as herein pro- 
vided, shall, whenever received at the Treasury or redeemed, 
be retired and canceled, and certificates of denominations 
of ten dollars or less shall be substituted therefor, and after 
such substitution, in whole or in part, a like volume of United 
States notes of less denomination than ten dollars shall from time 
to time be retired and canceled, and notes of denominations of 
ten dollars and upward shall be reissued in substitution therefor, 
with like qualities and restrictions as those retired and canceled.^ 

Sec. 8. That the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby author- 
ized to use, at his discretion, any silver bullion in the Treasury 
of the United States purchased under the Act of . . . [July 14, 
1890] . . . , for coinage into such denominations of subsidiary 
silver coin as may be necessary to meet the public requirements 
for such coin : Provided, That the amount of subsidiary silver 
coin outstanding shall not at any time exceed in the aggregate 
one hundred millions of dollars. Whenever any silver bullion 
purchased under the Act of . . . [July 14, 1890] . . . , shall 
be used in the coinage of subsidiary silver coin, an amount of 

1 Amended by act of March 4, 1907 (U. S. Siai. at Large, XXXIV., 1289). — Ed. 



iQoo] GOLD STANDARD ACT 613 

Treasury notes issued under said Act equal to the cost of the 

bulHon contained in such coin shall be canceled and not reissued. 

Sec. 9. [Uncurrent subsidiary silver coin to be recoined.] 

Sec. II. That the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby 
authorized to receive at the Treasury any of the outstanding 
bonds of the United States bearing interest at five per centum 
per annum, payable . . . [February i, 1904] . . . , and any 
bonds of the United States bearing interest at four per centum 
per annum, payable . . . [July i, 1907] . . . , and any bonds 
of the United States bearing interest at three per centum per 
annum, payable . . . [August i, 1908] . . . , and to issue in 
exchange therefor an equal amount of coupon or registered 
bonds of the United States in such form as he may prescribe, 
in denominations of fifty dollars or any multiple thereof, bear- 
ing interest at the rate of two per centum per annum, payable 
quarterly, such bonds to be payable at the pleasure of the 
United States after thirty years from the date of their issue, 
and said bonds to be payable, principal and interest, in gold 
coin of the present standard value, and to be exempt from the 
payment of all taxes or duties of the United States, as well as 
from taxation in any form by or under State, municipal, or local 
authority : Provided, That such outstanding bonds may be re- 
ceived in exchange at a valuation not greater than their present 
worth to yield an income of two and one-quarter per centum 
per annum; and in consideration of the reduction of interest 
effected, the Secretary of the Treasury is authorized to pay to 
the holders of the outstanding bonds surrendered for exchange, 
out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, 
a sum not greater than the difference between their present 

worth, computed as aforesaid, and their par value .... 
******** 

Sec. 14. That the provisions of this Act are not intended 
to preclude the accomplishment of international bimetallism 
whenever conditions shall make it expedient and practicable 
to secure the same by concurrent action of the leading com- 
mercial nations of the world and at a ratio which shall insure 
permanence of relative value between gold and silver. 

Approved, March 14, 1900. 



6l4 TREATY REGARDING ISTHMIAN CANAL [November 18 

No. 189. Treaty with Great Britain regard- 
ing an Isthmian Canal 

November 18, 1901 

By the Clayton-Bulwer treaty of 1850 the United States and Great 
Britain agreed upon a joint control and neutrahzation of any isthmian 
canal that might thereafter be constructed. The apparent prospect of 
the construction of a canal at Panama by a French company led to an in- 
creasing demand in the United States for the abrogation of the treaty, and for 
the control of the canal by the United States alone. The Hay-Pauncefote 
treaty of February 5, 1900, authorized the construction of a canal either 
by the United States or by a private corporation, but retained the pro\ision 
for neutralization. Amendments made by the Senate, declaring the Clay- 
ton-Bulwer treaty superseded and authorizing defensive measures by the 
United States in the management of the canal, were rejected by Great 
Britain, and the treaty failed. The Hay-Pauncefote treaty of No\ember 
18, 1901, in form a compromise between the original draft of 1900 and the 
Senate amendments, was ratified by President Roosevelt December 26, 
and by Great Britain January 20, 1902, and on February 22 was proclaimed. 
See post, Nos. 191 and 192. 

References. — Text in U. S. Stat, at Large, XXXII., Part 2, 1903- 
1905. The treaty of 1900, with other documents, is in Senate DQcument 85, 
57th Cong., ist Sess. (reprinted in Foreign Relations, 1901, pp. 237-246). 
The comparative merits of the Nicaragua and Panama routes were exhaust- 
ively treated by Senator Morgan, of Alabama, in Senate Report 1337, 56th 
Cong., ist Sess. See also the report of the Walker commission, November 
30, 1900 {Senate Doc. 5, 56th Cong., 2d Sess.). For the diplomatic history 
of the canal question see Moore, Digest of International Law, III., 2-222. 

Article I. 

The High Contracting Parties agree that the present Treaty 
shall supersede the afore-mentioned Convention [the Clayton- 
Bulwer treaty] of the 19th April, 1850. 

Article II. 

It is agreed that the canal may be constructed under the 
auspices of the Government of the United States, either directly 
at its own cost, or by gift or loan of money to individuals or 
Corporations, or through subscription to or purchase of stock 
or shares, and that, subject to the provisions of the present 



igoi] TREATY REGARDING ISTHMIAN CANAL 615 

Treaty, the said Government shall have and enjoy all the rights 
incident to such construction, as well as the exclusive right of 
providing for the regulation and management of the canal. 

Article III. 

The United States adopts, as the basis of the neutralization 
of such ship canal, the following Rules, substantially as embodied 
in the Convention of Constantinople, signed the 28th October, 
1SS8, for the free navigation of the Suez Canal, that is to say: 

1. The canal shall be free and open to the vessels of com- 
merce and of war of all nations observing these Rules, on terms 
of entire equality, so that there shall be no discrimination 
against any such nation, or its citizens or subjects, in respect 
of the conditions or charges of traffic, or otherwise. Such 
conditions and charges of traffic shall be just and equitable. 

2. The canal shall never be blockaded, nor shall any right 
of war be exercised nor any act of hostility be committed within 
it. The United States, however, shall be at liberty to main- 
tain such military police along the canal as may be necessary 
to protect it against lawlessness and disorder. 

3. Vessels of war of a belligerent shall not revictual nor 
take any stores in the canal except so far as may be strictly 
necessary; and the transit of such vessels through the canal 
shall be effected with the least possible delay in accordance with 
the Regulations in force, and with only such intermission as 
may result from the necessities of the service. 

Prizes shall be in all respects subject to the same Rules as 
vessels of war of the belligerents. 

4. No belligerent shall embark or disembark troops, muni- 
tions of war, or warlike materials in the canal, except in case 
of accidental hindrance of the transit, and in such case the transit 
shall be resumed with all possible dispatch. 

5. The provisions of this Article shall apply to waters adja- 
cent to the canal, within 3 marine miles of either end. Vessels 
of war of a belligerent shall not remain in such waters longer 
than twenty-four hours at any one time, except in case of dis- 
tress, and in such case, shall depart as soon as possible ; but a 
vessel of war of one belligerent shall not depart within twenty- 



6l6 CHINESE EXCLUSION ACT [April 29 

four hours from the departure of a vessel of war of the other 
belUgerent. 

6. The plant, establishments, buildings, and all works 
necessary to the construction, maintenance, and operation of 
the canal shall be deemed to be part thereof, for the purposes 
of this Treaty, and in time of war, as in time of peace, shall 
enjoy complete immunity from attack or injury by belligerents. 
and from acts calculated to impair their usefulness as part of 
the canal. 

Article IV. 

It is agreed that no change of territorial sovereignty or of 

the international relations of the country or countries traversed 

by the before-mentioned canal shall affect the general principle 

of neutralization or the obligation of the High Contracting 

Parties under the present Treaty. 

* * * * * * * *i 



No. 190. Chinese Exclusion Act 

April 29, igo2 

A BILL to prohibit the coming of Chinese and persons of Chinese descent 
into the United States, and to regulate the residence of Chinese therein, was 
introduced in the House, January 18, 1902, by Julius Kahn of California, 
and referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs. The immediate occa- 
sion of the bill was the approaching expiration, by limitation, of the " Geary 
act" of 1892. A substitute bill, reported by James B. Perkins of New York, 
March 26, was followed, April i, by another substitute bill and a minority 
report filed by Champ Clark of Missouri. The substitute bill of the com- 
mittee was taken up April 4, and on the 7th passed the House, with amend- 
ments, without a division. The Senate Committee on Immigration reported 
the bill without amendment, but on April 17 a biU on the same subject, 
introduced January 16 by John H. Mitchell of Oregon, and passed by the 
Senate April 16, was substituted for the House bill and the bill was passed. 
Two conference committees were necessary before the bill received its final 
form. The report of the second conference committee was accepted by 
both houses April 28, and the next day the act was approved. 

References. — Text in U. S. Slat, at Large, XXXII. , Part I, 176, 177. 
For the debates see the Cong. Record, 57th Cong., ist Sess. ; a summary 

* Signed: "John Hay, Pauncefote." — Ed. 



I902] CHINESE EXCLUSION ACT 617 

statement of the differences between the reports of the first and second 
conference committees is in ibid., p. 4709. The Perkins report is House 
Report 1 23 1. On the Mitchell substitute, said to embody the views of Pacific 
Coast senators and representatives, see Senate Report 776. The most impor- 
tant work on the general subject is Coolidge, Chinese Immigration (1909). 

An Act To prohibit the coming into and to regulate the residence within 
the United States, its Territories, and all territory under its jurisdiction, 
and the District of Columbia, of Chinese and persons of Chinese descent. 

Be it enacted . . . , That all laws now in force prohibiting 
and regulating the coming of Chinese persons, and persons of 
Chinese descent, into the United States, and the residence of 
such persons therein .... be, and the same are hereby, re- 
enacted, extended, and continued so far as the same are not 
inconsistent with treaty obligations, until otherwise provided 
by law, and said laws shall also apply to the island territory 
under the jurisdiction of the United States, and prohibit the 
immigration of Chinese laborers, not citizens of the United 
States, from such island territory to the mainland territory of 
the United States, whether in such island territory at the time 
of cession or not, and from one portion of the island territory 
of the United States to another portion of said island territory : 
Provided, however, That said laws shall not apply to the transit 
of Chinese laborers from one island to another island of the same 
group ; and any islands within the jurisdiction of any State 
or the District of Alaska shall be considered a part of the main- 
land under this section. 

Sec. 2. That the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby author- 
ized and empowered to make and prescribe, and from time to 
time to change, such rules and regulations not inconsistent 
with the laws of the land as he may deem necessary and proper 
to execute the provisions of this Act and of the Acts hereby 
extended and continued and of the treaty of . . . [December 8, 
1894,] . . . between the United States and China, and with the 
approval of the President to appoint such agents as he may deem 
necessary for the efficient execution of said treaty and said Acts. 

Sec. 3. That nothing in the provisions of this Act or any 
other Act shall be construed to prevent, hinder, or restrict 
any foreign exhibitor, representative, or citizen of any foreign 



6l8 CONSTRUCTION OF AN ISTHMIAN CANAL [June 28 

nation, or the holder, who is a citizen of any foreign nation, of 
any concession or privilege from any fair or exposition author- 
ized by Act of Congress from bringing into the United States, 
under contract, such mechanics, artisans, agents, or other 
employees, natives of their respective foreign countries, as 
they or any of them may deem necessary for the purpose of mak- 
ing preparation for installing or conducting their exhibits or of 
preparing for installing or conducting any business authorized 
or permitted under or by virtue of or pertaining to any conces- 
sion or privilege which may have been or may be granted by 
any said fair or exposition in connection with such exposition, 
under such rules and regulations as the Secretary of the Treasury 
may prescribe, both as to the admission and return of such 
person or persons. 

Sec. 4. ■ That it shall be the duty of every Chinese laborer, 
other than a citizen, rightfully in, and entitled to remain in any 
of the insular territory of the United States (Hawaii excepted) 
at the time of the passage of this Act, to obtain within one year 
thereafter a certificate of residence in the insular territory 
wherein he resides, which certificate shall entitle him to residence 
therein, and upon failure to obtain such certificate as herein 
provided he shall be deported from such insular territory ; and 
the Philippine Commission is authorized and required to make 
all regulations and provisions necessary for the enforcement 
of this section in the Philippine Islands, including the form and 
substance of the certificate of residence so that the same shall 
clearly and sufficiently identify the holder thereof and enable 
officials to prevent fraud in the transfer of the same . . . 

Approved, April 29, 1902. 



No. 191. Act for the Construction of an 
Isthmian Canal 

June 28, 1902 

A BILL for the construction of an isthmian canal was introduced in the 
House, December 6, 1901, by William P. Hepburn of Iowa, and referred 
to the Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce. On the 19th 



I902] CONSTRUCTION OF AN ISTHMIAN CANAL 619 

the bill was reported with amendments, and on January 7, 1902, passed 
by a vote of 308 to 2, i answering "present", and 44 not voting. The 
Senate Committee on Interoceanic Canal reported the bill, March 13, 1902, 
without amendment. The bill was taken up in the Senate April 17, and 
June 19 passed with amendments by a vote of 67 to 6, 15 not voting. The 
House accepted the Senate amendments, and June 28 the act was approved. 
An act of June 29, 1906, authorized the construction of a lock canal across 
the Isthmus of Panama, " of the general type proposed by the minority of 
the Board of Consulting Engineers" created by order of President Roose- 
velt, January 24, 1905. 

References. — Text in U. S. Stat, at Large, XXXII. , Part I, 481-484. 
For the debates see the Cong. Record, 57th Cong., ist Sess. Senate Report i 
is a comprehensive history of the canal question. The Hepburn report of 
December 19 is House Report 15 ; the Morgan report of March 13 is Senate 
Report 783. The Senate hearings on the House bill form Senate Doc. 253. 
Senate Report 1337 and Senate Doc. 5, s6th Cong., 2d Sess., are also valuable. 
On the general subject see W. F. Johnson, Four Centuries of the Canal 
(1906). 

An Act To provide for the construction of a canal connecting the waters 
of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. 

Be it enacted, . . . That the President of the United States 
is hereby authorized to acquire, for and on behalf of the United 
States, at a cost not exceeding forty miUions of dollars, the 
rights, privileges, franchises, concessions, grants of land, right 
of way, unfinished work, plants, and other property, real, 
personal, and mixed, of every name and nature, owned by the 
New Panama Canal Company, of France, on the Isthmus of 
Panama, and all its maps, plans, drawings, records on the 
Isthmus of Panama and in Paris, including all the capital 
stock, not less, however, than sixty-eight thousand eight hun- 
dred and sixty-three shares of the Panama Railroad Company, 
owned by or held for the use of said canal company, provided 
a satisfactory title to all of said property can be obtained. 

Sec. 2. That the President is hereby authorized to acquire 
from the Republic of Colombia, for and on behalf of the United 
States, upon such terms as he may deem reasonable, perpetual 
control of a strip of land, the territory of the Republic of Colom- 
bia, not less than six miles in width, extending from the Carib- 
bean Sea to the Pacific Ocean, and the right to use and dispose 
of the waters thereon, and to excavate, construct, and to per- 
petually maintain, operate, and protect thereon a canal, of such 
depth and capacity as will afford convenient passage of ships 



620 CONSTRUCTION OF AN ISTHMIAN CANAL [June 28 

of the greatest tonnage and draft now in use, from the Carib- 
bean Sea to the Pacific Ocean, which control shall include the 
right to perpetually maintain and operate the Panama Rail- 
road, if the ownership thereof, or a controlling interest therein, 
shall have been accjuired by the United States, and also juris- 
diction ov^er said strip and the ports at the ends thereof to make 
such police and sanitary rules and regulations as shall be neces- 
sary to preserve order and preserve the public health thereon, 
and to establish such judicial tribunals as may be agreed upon 
thereon as may be necessary to enforce such rules and regu- 
lations. 

The President may acquire such additional territory and 
rights from Colombia as in his judgment will facilitate the gen- 
eral purpose hereof. 

Sec. 3. That when the President shall have arranged to 
secure a satisfactory title to the property of the New Panama 
Canal Company, as provided in section one hereof, and shall 
have obtained by treaty control of the necessary territory 
from the RepubUc of Colombia, as provided in section two 
hereof, he is authorized to pay for the property of the New Pan- 
ama Canal Company forty millions of dollars and to the Republic 
of Colombia such sum as shall have been agreed upon . . . 

The President shall then through the Isthmian Canal 
Commission hereinafter authorized cause to be excavated, 
constructed, and completed, utilizing to that end as far as prac- 
ticable the work heretofore done by the New Panama Canal 
Company, of France, and its predecessor company, a ship canal 
from the Caribbean Sea to the Pacific Ocean. Such canal shall 
be of sufficient capacity and depth as shall afford convenient 
passage for vessels of the largest tonnage and greatest draft 
now in use, and such as may be reasonably anticipated, and 
shall be suppUed with all necessary locks and other appliances 
to meet the necessities of vessels passing through the same 
from ocean to ocean ; and he shall also cause to be constructed 
such safe and commodious harbors at the termini of said canal, 
and make such provisions for defense as may be necessary for 
the safety and protection of said canal and harbors. . . . 

Sec. 4. That should the President be unable to obtain for 
the United States a satisfactory title to the property of the 



I902] CONSTRUCTION OF AN ISTHMIAN CANAL 62 1 

New Panama Canal Company and the control of the necessary 

territory of the Republic of Colombia and the rights mentioned 

in sections one and two of this Act, within a reasonable time 

and upon reasonable terms, then the President, having first 

obtained for the United States perpetual control by treaty of 

the necessary territory from Costa Rica and Nicaragua, upon 

terms which he may consider reasonable, for the construction, 

perpetual maintenance, operation, and protection of a canal 

connecting the Caribbean Sea with the Pacific Ocean by what 

is commonly known as the Nicaragua route, shall through the 

said Isthmian Canal Commission cause to be excavated and 

constructed a ship canal and waterway from a point on the 

shore of the Caribbean Sea near Greytown, by way of Lake 

Nicaragua, to a point near Brito on the Pacific Ocean . . . 
******** 

In the excavation and construction of said canal the San 
Juan River and Lake Nicaragua, or such parts of each as may 
be made available, shall be used. 

Sec. 5. That the sum of ten milhon dollars is hereby appro- 
priated, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appro- 
priated, toward the project herein contemplated by either route 
so selected. 

And the President is hereby authorized to cause to be entered 
into such contract or contracts as may be deemed necessary 
for the proper excavation, construction, completion, and defense 
of said canal, harbors, and defenses, by the route finally deter- 
mined upon under the provisions of this Act. Appropriations 
therefor shall from time to time be hereafter made, not to exceed 
in the aggregate the additional sum of one hundred and thirty- 
five millions of dollars should the Panama route be adopted, 
or one hundred and eighty milhons of dollars should the Nica- 
ragua route be adopted. 

Sec. 6. That in any agreement with the Republic of Colom- 
bia, or with the States of Nicaragua and Costa Rica, the Presi- 
dent is authorized to guarantee to said Republic or to said 
States the use of said canal and harbors, upon such terms as 
may be agreed upon, for all vessels owned by said States or by 
citizens thereof. 

Sec. 7. That to enable the President to construct the canal 



622 CONSTRUCTION OF AN ISTHMIAN CANAL [June 28 

and works appurtenant thereto as provided in this Act, there is 
hereby created the Isthmian Canal Commission, the same to 
be composed of seven members, who shall be nominated and 
appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent 
of the Senate, and who shall serve until the completion of said 
canal unless sooner removed by the President. ... Of the 
seven members of said Commission at least four of them shall 
be persons learned and skilled in the science of engineering, 
and of the four at least one shall be an officer of the United 
States Army, and at least one other shall be an officer of the 
United States Navy, the said officers respectively being either 
upon the active or the retired hst of the Army or of the Navy. 
... In addition to the members of said Isthmian Canal Com- 
mission, the President is hereby authorized through said Com- 
mission to employ in said service any of the engineers of the 
United States Army at his discretion, and likewise to employ 
any engineers in civil life, at his discretion, and any other per- 
sons necessary for the proper and expeditious prosecution of 
said work. . . . Said Commission shall in all matters be sub- 
ject to the direction and control of the President, and shall 
make to the President annually and at such other periods as 
may be required, either by law or by the order of the President, 
full and complete reports of all their actings and doings and of 
all moneys received and expended in the construction of said 
work and in the performance of their duties in connection there- 
with, which said reports shall be by the President transmitted 
to Congress. And the said Commission shall furthermore give 
to Congress, or either House of Congress, such information as 
may at any time be required either by Act of Congress or by 
the order of either House of Congress. . . . 

[Sec. 8 authorizes a bond issue of $130,000,000 to defray 
expenses.] 

Approved, June 28, 1902. 



1903] PANAMA CANAL TREATY 623 

No. 192. Panama Canal Treaty 

November 18, 1903 

The rejection by the Senate of the Colombian Congress, August 12, 1903, 
of the Hay-Herran convention of January 22 for the lease of a strip of terri- 
tory six miles wide across the Isthmus of Panama was followed, in the first 
week of November, by a revolution at Colon, the recognition of the de facto 
government, and the reception by President Roosevelt of Bunau-Varilla, 
the minister of the new Republic of Panama. The treaty of November 18 
was ratified by Panama December 2, and by President Roosevelt February 
25, 1904, and the next day was proclaimed. An act of April 28 vested in the 
President powers of temporary government in the Canal Zone. An act 
of August 24, 191 2, provided a permanent form of government and exempted 
American coastwise vessels from the payment of tolls; but by an act of 
June 15, 19 14, tolls of not less than 75 cents nor more than $1.25 per regis- 
tered ton were authorized, subject to the provisions of the treaty of Novem- 
ber 18, 1903, with Panama, and without waiver of the rights of the United 
States, under the treaty of November 18, 1901, with Great Britain (No. 189) 
or the treaty of 1903, with Panama, to discriminate in favor of its own citi- 
zens in the matter of tolls, or respecting its sovereignty over or control of 
the canal. 

References. — Text in U . S. Stat, at Large, XXXIII., Part I, 2234-2241. 
On the course of the United States in the acquisition of the Canal Zone 
see Latane, America as a World Power, ch. 12, and references there cited. 

Article I. 

The United States guarantees and will maintain the inde- 
pendence of the Republic of Panama. 

Article II. 

The Republic of Panama grants to the United States in per- 
petuity the use, occupation and control of a zone of land and 
land under water for the construction, maintenance, operation, 
sanitation and protection of said Canal of the width of ten 
miles extending to the distance of five miles on each side of 
the center line of the route of the Canal to be constructed ; 
the said zone beginning in the Caribbean Sea three marine 
miles from mean low water mark and extending to and across 
the Isthmus of Panama into the Pacific ocean to a distance of 
three marine miles from mean low water mark with the proviso 



624 PANAMA CANAL TREATY [November i8 

that the cities of Panama and Colon and the harbors adjacent 
to said cities, which are included within the boundaries of the 
zone above described, shall not be included within this grant.^ 
The RepubHc of Panama further grants to the United States 
in perpetuity the use, occupation and control of any other 
lands and waters outside of the zone above described which 
may be necessary and convenient for the construction, main- 
tenance, operation, sanitation and protection of the said Canal 
or of any auxiliary canals or other works necessary and con- 
venient for the construction, maintenance, operation, sanita- 
tion and protection of the said enterprise. 

The RepubHc of Panama further grants in Hke manner to 
the United States in perpetuity all islands within the Hmits of 
the zone above described and in addition thereto the group of 
small islands in the Bay of Panama, named Perico, Naos, 
Culebra and Flamenco. 

Article III. 

The RepubHc of Panama grants to the United States all the 
rights, power and authority within the zone mentioned and 
described in Article II of this agreement and within the limits 
of all auxiliary lands and waters mentioned and described in 
said Article II which the United States would possess and exer- 
cise if it were the sovereign of the territory within which said 
lands and waters are located to the entire exclusion of the exer- 
cise by the Republic of Panama of any such sovereign rights, 
power or authority. 

Article IV. 

As rights subsidiary to the above grants the Republic of 
Panama grants in perpetuity to the United States the right to 
use the rivers, streams, lakes and other bodies of water within 
its limits for navigation, the supply of water or water-power 
or other purposes, so far as the use of said rivers, streams, lakes 
and bodies of water and the waters thereof may be necessary 
and convenient for the construction, maintenance, operation, 
sanitation and protection of the said Canal. 

' A treaty with Panama defining the boundan" of the Canal Zone was concluded 
September 2, 1814 (i/. S. Slat, at Large, XXXVIU., Part 2, 1893-1907). 



1903] PANAMA CANAL TREATY 625 

Article V. 

The Republic of Panama grants to the United States in per- 
petuity a monopoly for the construction, maintenance and 
operation of any system of communication by means of canal 
or railroad across its territory between the Caribbean Sea and 
the Pacific ocean. 

Article VI. 

[Existing private rights not invalidated. Damages to be 
appraised by a joint commission, and awards to be paid by the 
United States.] 

Article VII. 

The Republic of Panama grants to the United States within 
the limits of the cities of Panama and Colon and their adjacent 
harbors and within the territory adjacent thereto the right to 
acquire by purchase or by the exercise of the right of eminent 
domain, any lands, buildings, water rights or other properties 
necessary and convenient for the construction, maintenance, 
operation and protection of the Canal and of any works of 
sanitation, such as the collection and disposition of sewage 
and the distribution of water in the said cities of Panama and 
Colon, which, in the discretion of the United States may be 
necessary and convenient for the construction, maintenance, 
operation, sanitation and protection of the said Canal and rail- 
road. All such works of sanitation, collection and disposition of 
sewage and distribution of water in the cities of Panama and 
Colon shall be made at the expense of the United States, and 
the Government of the United States, its agents or nominees 
shall be authorized to impose and collect water rates and sewer- 
age rates which shall be sufficient to provide for the payment 
of interest and the amortization of the principal of the cost of 
said works within a period of fifty years and upon the expiration 
of said term of fifty years the system of sewers and w^ater works 
shall revert to and become the properties of the cities of Panama 
and Colon respectively, and the use of the water shall be free 
to the inhabitants of Panama and Colon, except to the extent 



626 PANAMA CANAL TREATY [November i8 

that water rates may be necessary for the operation and main- 
tenance of said system of sewers and water. 

The Republic of Panama agrees that the cities of Panama 
and Colon shall comply in perpetuity with the sanitary ordi- 
nances whether of a preventive or curative character prescribed 
by the United States and in case the Government of Panama is 
unable or fails in its duty to enforce this compliance by the 
cities of Panama and Colon with the sanitary ordinances of the 
United States the Republic of Panama grants to the United 
States the right and authority to enforce the same. 

The same right and authority are granted to the United States 
for the maintenance of public order in the cities of Panama 
and Colon and the territories and harbors adjacent thereto 
in case the Republic of Panama should not be, in the judgment 
of the United States, able to maintain such order. 

Article VIII. 

The Republic of Panama grants to the United States all 
rights which it now has or hereafter may acquire to the property 
of the New Panama Canal Company and the Panama Rail- 
road Company as a result of the transfer of sovereignty from 
the Republic of Colombia to the Republic of Panama over the 
Isthmus of Panama and authorizes the New Panama Canal 
Company to sell and transfer to the United States its rights, 
privileges, properties and concessions as well as the Panama 
Railroad and all the shares or part of the shares of that com- 
pany ; but the public lands situated outside of the zone described 
in Article II of this treaty now included in the concessions to both 
said enterprises and not required in the construction or opera- 
tion of the Canal shall revert to the Republic of Panama except 
any property now owned by or in the possession of said com- 
panies within Panama or Colon or the ports or terminals thereof. 

Article IX. 

The United States agrees that the ports at either entrance 
of the Canal and the waters thereof, and the Republic of Panama 
agrees that the towns of Panama and Colon shall be free for 



1903] PANAMA CANAL TREATY 627 

all time so that there shall not be imposed or collected custom 
house tolls, tonnage, anchorage, lighthouse, wharf, pilot, or 
quarantine dues or any other charges or taxes of any kind 
upon any vessel using or passing through the Canal or belonging 
to or employed by the United States, directly or indirectly, 
in connection with the construction, maintenance, operation, 
sanitation and protection of the main Canal, or auxiliary works, 
or upon the cargo, officers, crew, or passengers of any such 
vessels, except such tolls and charges as may be imposed by 
the United States for the use of the Canal and other works, 
and except tolls and charges imposed by the RepubHc of Panama 
upon merchandise destined to be introduced for the consumption 
of the rest of the Republic of Panama, and upon vessels touch- 
ing at the ports of Colon and Panama and which do not cross 
the Canal. . . 

Article X. 

The Republic of Panama agrees that there shall not be im- 
posed any taxes, national, municipal, departmental, or of any 
other class, upon the Canal, the railways and auxihary works, 
tugs and other vessels employed in the service of the Canal, 
store houses, work shops, offices, quarters for laborers, factories 
of all kinds, warehouses, wharves, machinery and other works, 
property, and effects appertaining to the Canal or railroad and 
auxiliary works, or their officers or employees, situated within 
the cities of Panama and Colon, and that there shall not be 
imposed contributions or charges of a personal character of any 
kind upon officers, employees, laborers, and other individuals 
in the service of the Canal and railroad and auxiliary works. 



Article XI. 

The United States agrees that the official dispatches of the 
Government of the Republic of Panama shall be transmitted 
over any telegraph and telephone lines established for canal 
purposes and used for public and private business at rates not 
higher than those required from officials in the service of the 
United States. 



628 PANAMA CANAL TREATY [November i8 

Article XII, 

The Government of the Republic of Panama shall permit 
the immigration and free access to the lands and workshops 
of the Canal and its auxiliary works of all employees and work- 
men of whatever nationality under contract to work upon or 
seeking employment upon or in any wise connected with the 
said Canal and its auxiliary works, with their respective families, 
and all such persons shall be free and exempt from the military 
service of the Republic of Panama. 



Article XIII. 

The United States may import at any time into the said 
zone and auxiliary lands, free of custom duties, imposts, taxes, 
or other charges, and without any restrictions, any and all 
vessels, dredges, engines, cars, machinery, tools, explosives, 
materials, supplies, and other articles necessary and convenient 
in the construction, maintenance, operation, sanitation and 
protection of the Canal and auxiliary works, and all provisions, 
medicines, clothing, supplies and other things necessary and 
convenient for the officers, employees, workmen and laborers 
in the service and employ of the United States and for their 
families. 

Article XIV. 

As the price or compensation for the rights, powers and 
privileges granted in this convention by the Republic of Panama 
to the United States, the Government of the United States 
agrees to pay to the Republic of Panama the sum of ten million 
dollars ($10,000,000) in gold coin of the United States on the 
exchange of the ratification of this convention and also an 
annual payment during the life of this convention of two hun- 
dred and fifty thousand dollars ($250,000) in like gold coin, 
beginning nine years after the date aforesaid. 

The provisions of this Article shall be in addition to all other 
benefits assured to the Republic of Panama under this con- 
vention. . . . 



1903] PANAMA CANAL TREATY 629 

Article XVI. 

The two Governments shall make adequate provision by 
future agreement for the pursuit, capture, imprisonment, deten- 
tion and delivery within said zone and auxiliary lands to the 
authorities of the Republic of Panama of persons charged with 
the commitment of crimes, felonies or misdemeanors without 
said zone and for the pursuit, capture, imprisonment, detention 
and delivery without said zone to the authorities of the United 
States of persons charged with the commitment of crimes, 
felonies and misdemeanors within said zone and auxiliary lands. 

Article XVIII. 

The Canal, when constructed, and the entrances thereto 
shall be neutral in perpetuity, and shall be opened upon the 
terms provided for by Section i of Article three of, and in con- 
formity with all the stipulations of, the treaty entered into by 
the Governments of the United States and Great Britain on 
November 18, 1901. 

Article XIX. 

The Government of the Republic of Panama shall have the 
right to transport over the Canal its vessels and its troops and 
munitions of war in such vessels at all times without paying 
charges of any kind. The exemption is to be extended to the 
auxiliary railway for the transportation of persons in the service 
of the Republic of Panama, or of the police force charged with 
the preservation of public order outside of said zone, as well as 
to their baggage, munitions of war and supplies. 

Article XX. 

If by virtue of any existing treaty in relation to the territory 
of the Isthmus of Panama, whereof the obligations shall descend 
or be assumed by the Republic of Panama, there may be any 
privilege or concession in favor of the Government or the citi- 
zens and subjects of a third power relative to an interoceanic 
means of communication which in any of its terms may be 



630 NATURALIZATION ACT [June 29 

incompatible with the terms of the present convention, the 
RepubHc of Panama agrees to cancel or modify such treaty 
in due form .... 

Article XXII. 

[Rights in prior concessions to be transferred to the United 

States.] 

******** 



No. 193. Naturalization Act 

June 29, 1906 

Until the passage of the act of 1906, naturalization was in the main regu- 
lated by an act of 1802. The report of a Commission on NaturaHzation 
appointed by President Roosevelt March i, 1905, transmitted to Congress 
December 5, was followed by the introduction of a number of bills relating 
to the subject in both houses. A bill with the same title as that of the act 
below, introduced in the House, February 22, 1906, by Benjamin F. Howell 
of New Jersey, passed with amendments, without division, June 5. An 
amended form of the bill passed the Senate without division June 27. The 
House disagreed to the Senate amendments, and the final form of the bill 
was given by a conference committee. Only the most important substantiv-e 
provisions of the act are given here. 

References. — Text in U. S. Stat, at Large, XXXIV., Part i, 596-607. 
For the debates see the Cong. Record, 59th Cong., ist Sess. See also House 
Report 1789, Senate Report 4373, and the Report of the Commission on Nat- 
uralization. 

An Act To establish a Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization, and to 
provide for a uniform rule for the naturalization of aliens throughout 
the United States. 

Be it enacted . ■ ■ , That the designation of the Bureau of 
Immigration in the Department of Commerce and Labor is 
hereby changed to the "Bureau of Immigration and Naturaliza- 
tion," which said Bureau, under the direction and control of 
the Secretary of Commerce and Labor, in addition to the duties 
now provided by law, shall have charge of all matters concern- 
ing the naturalization of ahens. . . . 



i9o6] NATURALIZATION ACT 63 1 

Sec. 3. That exclusive jurisdiction to naturalize aliens as 
citizens of the United States is hereby conferred upon the fol- 
lowing specified courts : 

United States circuit and district courts now existing, or 
which may hereafter be established by Congress in any State, 
United States district courts for the Territories of Arizona, 
New Mexico, Oklahoma, Hawaii, and Alaska, the supreme 
court of the District of Columbia, and the United States courts 
for the Indian Territory ; also all courts of record in any State 
or Territory now existing, or which may hereafter be created, 
having a seal, a clerk, and jurisdiction in actions at law or equity, 
or law and equity, in which the amount in controversy is un- 
limited. . . . 

Sec. 4. That an alien may be admitted to become a citizen 
of the United States in the following manner and not otherwise : 

First. He shall declare on oath before the clerk of any court 
authorized by this Act to naturalize aUens, or his authorized 
deputy, in the district in which such alien resides, two years 
at least prior to his admission, and after he has reached the 
age of eighteen years, that it is bona fide his intention to become 
a citizen of the United States, and to renounce forever all 
allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, 
or sovereignty, and particularly, by name, to the prince, poten- 
tate, state, or sovereignty of which the ahen may be at the time 
a citizen or subject. . . . 

Second. Not less than two years nor more than seven years 
after he has made such declaration of intention he shall make 
and file, in duplicate, a petition in writing, signed by the appli- 
cant in his own hand-writing and duly verified, in which peti- 
tion such applicant shall state his full name, his place of resi- 
dence (by street and number, if possible), his occupation, and, 
if possible, the date and place of his birth ; the place from which 
he emigrated, and the date and place of his arrival in the United 
States, and, if, he entered through a port, the name of the vessel 
on which he arrived ; the time when and the place and name 
of the court where he declared his intention to become a citizen 
of the United States ; if he is married he shall state the name of 
his wife and, if possible, the country of her nativity and her 
place of residence at the time of fiang his petition ; and if he 



632 NATURALIZATION ACT [June 29 

has children, the name, date, and place of birth and place of 
residence of each child living at the time of the filing of his 
petition .... 

The petition shall set forth that he is not a disbeliever in or 
opposed to organized government, or a member of or aflfiliated 
with any organization or body of persons teaching disbelief 
in or opposed to organized government, a polyg^mist or believer 
in the practice of polygamy, and that it is his intention to be- 
come a citizen of the United States and to renounce absolutely 
and forever all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, 
potentate, state, or sovereignty, and particularly by name to 
the prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty of which he at the 
time of filing of his petition may be a citizen or subject, and 
that it is his intention to reside permanently within the United 
States, and whether or not he has been denied admission as a 
citizen of the United States, and, if denied, the ground or 
grounds of such denial, the court or courts in which such decision 
was rendered, and that the cause for such denial has since been 
cured or removed, and every fact material to his naturalization 
and required to be proved upon the final hearing of his appli- 
cation. 

The petition shall also be verified by the affidavits of at least 
two credible witnesses, who are citizens of the United States, 
and who shall state in their affidavits that they have personally 
known the applicant to be a resident of the United States for a 
period of at least five years continuously, and of the State, 
Territory, or district in which the application is made for a 
period of at least one year immediately preceding the date of 
the fifing of his petition, and that they each have personal 
knowledge that the petitioner is a person of good moral char- 
acter, and that he is in every way qualified, in their opinion, 
to be admitted as a citizen of the United States. . . . 

Third. He shall, before he is admitted to citizenship, declare 
on oath in open court that he will support the Constitution of 
the United States, and that he absolutely and entirely renounces 
and abjures all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, 
potentate, state, or sovereignty, and particularly by name to 
the prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty of which he was 
before a citizen or subject ; that he will support and defend the 



i9o6] NATURALIZATION ACT 633 

Constitution and laws of the United States against all enemies, 
foreign and domestic, and bear true faith and allegiance to the 
same. 

Fourth. It shall be made to appear to the satisfaction of 
the court admitting any alien to citizenship that immediately 
preceding the date of his application he has resided continu- 
ausly within the United States five years at least, and within 
the State or Territory where such court is at the time held one 
year at least, and that during that time he has behaved as a 
man of good moral character, attached to the principles of the 
Constitution of the United States, and well disposed to the 
good order and happiness of the same. In addition to the 
oath of the applicant, the testimony of at least two witnesses, 
citizens of the United States, as to the facts of residence, moral 
character, and attachment to the principles of the Constitution 
shall be required, and the name, place of residence, and occu- 
pation of each witness shall be set forth in the record. 

Fifth. In case the alien applying to be admitted to citizenship 
has borne any hereditary title, or has been of any of the orders 
of nobility in the kingdom or state from which he came, he shall, 
in addition to the above requisites, make an express renunciation 
of his title or order of nobiHty in the court to which his applica- 
tion is made, and his renunciation shall be recorded in the court. 

Sixth. When any alien who has declared his intention to 
become a citizen of the United States dies before he is actually 
naturalized the widow and minor children of sugh alien may, 
by complying with the other provisions of this Act, be natural- 
ized without making any declaration of intention. 

Sec. 5. [Public notice of petition, etc., to be given.] 

Sec. 6. That petitions for naturalization may be made 
and filed during term time or vacation of the court and shall 
be docketed the same day as filed, but final action thereon shall 
be had only on stated days, to be fixed by rule of the court, 
and in no case shall final action be had upon a petition until 
at least ninety days have elapsed after filing and posting the 
notice of such petition : Provided, That no person shall be nat- 
uralized nor shall any certificate of naturalization be issued 
by any court within thirty days preceding the holding of any 
general election within its territorial jurisdiction. . . . 



634 NATURALIZATION ACT [June 29 

Sec. 7. That no person who disbeheves in or who is opposed 
to organized government, or who is a member of or affihated 
with any organization entertaining and teaching such disbeUef 
in or opposition to organized government, or who advocates 
or teaches the duty, necessity, or propriety of the unlawful 
assaulting or killing of any officer or officers, either of specific 
individuals or of officers generally, of the Government of the 
United States, or of any other organized government, because 
of his or their official character, or who is a polygamist, shall 
be naturalized or be made a citizen of the United States. 

Sec. 8. That no alien shall hereafter be naturalized or 
admitted as a citizen of the United States who can not speak 
the English language : Provided, That this requirement shall 
not apply to aliens who are physically unable to comply there- 
with, if they are otherwise qualified to become citizens of the 
United States: And provided Jurther, That the requirements 
of this section shall not apply to any alien who has prior to the 
passage of this Act declared his intention to become a citizen 
of the United States in conformity with the law in force at the 
date of making such declaration : Provided further, That the 
requirements of section eight shall not apply to aliens who shall 
hereafter declare their intention to become citizens and who 
shall make homestead entries upon the public lands of the 
United States and comply in all respects with the laws provid- 
ing for homestead entries on such lands. 

******** 

Sec. 15. . . . If any alien who shall have secured a cer- 
tificate of citizenship under the provisions of this Act shall, 
within five years after the issuance of such certificate, return 
to the country of his nativity, or go to any other foreign country, 
and take permanent residence therein, it shall be considered 
prima facie evidence of a lack of intention on the part of such 
alien to become a permanent citizen of the United States at 
the time of filing his application for citizenship, and, in the 
absence of countervailing evidence, it shall be sufiicient in the 
proper proceeding to authorize the cancellation of his certificate 
of citizenship as fraudulent, and the diplomatic and consular 
officers of the United States in foreign countries shall from time 
to time, through the Department of State, furnish the Depart- 



igoy] CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS BY CORPORATIONS 635 

ment of Justice with the names of those within their respective 
jurisdictions who have such certificates of citizenship and who 
have taken permanent residence in the country of their nativity, 
or in any other foreign country, and such statements, duly 
certified, shall be admissible in evidence in all courts in proceed- 
ings to cancel certificates of citizenship. . . . 

Sec. 23. That any person who knowingly procures naturali- 
zation in violation of the provisions of this Act shall be fined 
not more than five thousand dollars, or shall be imprisoned not 
more than five years, or both, and upon conviction the court 
in which such conviction is had shall thereupon adjudge and 
declare the final order admitting such person to citizenship void. 
Jurisdiction is hereby conferred on the courts having jurisdic- 
tion of the trial of such offense to make such adjudication. Any 
person who knowingly aids, advises, or encourages any person 
not entitled thereto to apply for or to secure naturalization, 
or to file the preliminary papers declaring an intent to become a 
citizen of the United States, or w^ho in any naturalization pro- 
ceeding knowingly procures or gives false testimony as to any 
material fact, or who knowingly makes an affidavit false as to 
any material fact required to be proved in such proceeding, 
shall be fined not more than five thousand dollars, or imprisoned 
not more than five years, or both. 

Approved, June 29, 1906. 



No. 194. Prohibition of Campaign Con- 
tributions by Corporations 

January 26, 1907 

A BiLi to prohibit money contributions by corporations in connection 
with political elections, said to be identical with a bill introduced in 1901 
by William E. Chandler of New Hampshire but not acted upon, was intro- 
duced in the Senate, February 19, 1906, by Benjamin R. Tillman of South 
Carolina, and on June 9 passed without a division. In the House the biU 
was referred to the Committee on Election of President and Vice-President 



636 IMMIGRATION ACT [February 20 

and Representatives in Congress, but ro further action was taken during 
the session. January 15, 1907, in the second session, the bill was reported 
with amendments, and on the 21st passed without a division under suspen- 
sion of the rules. The Senate concurred in the House amendments, and 
on the 26th the act was approved. An act of June 25, 1910 (amended Au- 
gust 19, 191 1, and August 23, 1912), provaded for pubhcity of political 
contributions in Congressional elections. 

References. — Text in U. S. Stat, at Large, XXXIV., Part I, 864, 865. 
The debate was unimportant. See Senate Report 3056, 59th Cong., ist 
Sess., and House Report 6397, 59th Cong., 2d Sess. 

An Act To prohibit corporations from making money contributions in con- 
nection with political elections. 

Be it enacted . . . , That it shall be unlawful for any national 
bank, or any corporation organized by authority of any laws 
of Congress, to make a money contribution in connection with 
any election to any political office. It shall also be unlawful 
for any corporation whatever to make a money contribution 
in connection with any election at which Presidential and Vice- 
Presidential electors or a Representative in Congress is to be 
voted for or any election by any State legislature of a United 
States Senator. Every corporation which shall make any 
contribution in violation of the foregoing provisions shall be 
subject to a fine not exceeding five thousand dollars, and every 
officer or director of any corporation who shall consent to any 
contribution by the corporation in violation of the foregoing 
provisions shall upon conviction be punished by a fine of not 
exceeding one thousand and not less than two hundred and 
fifty dollars, or by imprisonment for a term of not more than 
one year, or both such fine and imprisonment in the discretion 
of the court. 

Approved, January 26, 1907. 



No. 195. Immigration Act 

February 20, 1907 

A COMPREHENSIVE act to regulate immigration was passed March 3, 
1903, and an amendatory act March 22, 1904. A bill further to regulate 



IQ07] IMMIGRATION ACT 637 

the immigration of aliens, introduced in the Senate, February 14, 1906', by 
WiUiam P. DiUingham of Vermont, was reported with amendments March 
29, and May 23 passed without a division. On the 29th the bill was re- 
ported with amendments in the House, and June 5 was recommitted. It 
was reported back on the nth, and on the 25th passed without a division. 
The Senate disagreed to the House amendments, and the bill went to a 
conference committee. No further action was taken during the session. 
At the next session, February 13, 1907, the report of the conference commit- 
tee was submitted, and was accepted by the Senate on the i6th and by the 
House on the 19th. The next day the act was approved. Only the most 
important substantive provisions of the act are given here. 

References. — Text in U. S. Stat, at Large, XXXIV., Part I, S98-911. 
For the debates see the Cong. Record, 59th Cong., ist and 2d Sess. See 
also Senate Report 2186 and House Reports 4558 and 4912, 59th Cong., 
2d Sess. 

An Act To regulate the immigration of aliens into the United States. 

Be it enacted ■ ■ ■ , That there shall be levied, collected, and 
paid a tax of four dollars for every alien entering the United 
States. The said tax shall be paid to the collector of customs 
of the port or customs district to which said alien shall come, 
or, if there be no collector at such port or district, then to the 
collector nearest thereto, by the master, agent, owner, or con- 
signee of the vessel, transportation line, or other conveyance 
or vehicle bringing such alien to the United States. The 
money thus collected, together with all fines and rentals col- 
lected under the laws regulating the immigration of aliens into 
the United States, shall be paid into the Treasury of the United 
States, and shall constitute a permanent appropriation to be 
called the "immigrant fund," to be used under the direction 
of the Secretary of Commerce and Labor to defray the expense 
of regulating the immigration of aliens into the United States 
under said laws, including the contract labor laws, the cost of 
reports of decisions of the Federal courts, and digest thereof, 
for the use of the Commissioner-General of Immigration, and 
the salaries and expenses of all officers, clerks, and employees 
appointed to enforce said laws. The tax imposed by this 
section shall be a lien upon the vessel, or other vehicle of carriage 
or transportation bringing such aliens to the United States, and 
shall be a debt in favor of the United States against the owner 
or owners of such vessel, or other vehicle, and the payment of 



638 IMMIGRATION ACT [February 20 

such tax may be enforced by an}^ legal or equitable remedy. 
That the said tax shall not be levied upon aliens who shall 
enter the United States after an uninterrupted residence of at 
least one year, immediately preceding such entrance, in the 
Dominion of Canada, Newfoundland, the Republic of Cuba, 
or the Republic of Mexico, nor upon otherwise admissible 
residents of any possession of the United States, nor upon aliens 
in transit through the United States, nor upon aliens who have 
been lawfully admitted to the United States and who later 
shall go in transit from one part of the United States to another 
through foreign contiguous territory : . . . . Provided further, 
That the provisions of this section shall not apply to aliens 
arriving in Guam, Porto Rico, or Hawaii ; but if any such alien, 
not having become a citizen of the United States, shall later 
arrive at any port or place of the United States on the North 
American Continent the provisions of this section shall apply : 
Provided further, That whenever the President shall be satisfied 
that passports issued by any foreign government to its citizens 
to go to any country other than the United States or to any 
insular possession of the United States or to the Canal Zone 
are being used for the purpose of enabling the holders to come 
to the continental territory of the United States to the detri- 
ment of labor conditions therein, the President may refuse 
to permit such citizens of the country issuing such passports 
to enter the continental territory of the United States from such 
other country or from such insular possessions or from the Canal 
Zone. 

Sec. 2. That the following classes of aliens shall be excluded 
from admission into the United States : All idiots, imbeciles, 
feeble-minded persons, epileptics, insane persons, and persons 
who have been insane within five years previous ; persons who 
have had two or more attacks of insanity at any time previously ; 
paupers ; persons likely to become a public charge ; professional 
beggars ; persons aftlicted with tuberculosis or with a loath- 
some or dangerous contagious disease ; persons not compre- 
hended within atny of the foregoing excluded classes who are 
found to be and are certified by the examining surgeon as being 
mentally or physically defective, such mental or physical 
defect being of a nature which may affect the abihty of such 



iQoy] IMMIGRATION ACT 639 

alien to earn a Jiving ; persons who have been convicted of or 
admit having committed a felony or other crime or misdemeanor 
involving moral turpitude; polygamists, or persons who admit 
their belief in the practice of polygamy, anarchists, or persons 
who believe in or advocate the overthrow by force or violence of 
the Government of the United States, or of all government, or 
of all forms of law, or the assassination of public officials ; [per- 
sons coming for immoral purposes;] persons hereinafter called 
contract laborers, who have been induced or solicited to migrate 
to this country by offers or promises of employment or in con- 
sequence of agreements, oral, written or printed, express or 
implied, to perform labor in this country of any kind, skilled 
or unskilled; those who have been, within one year from the 
date of application for admission to the United States, deported 
as having been induced or solicited to migrate as above 
described ; any person whose ticket or passage is paid for with 
the money of another, or who is assisted by others to come, 
unless it is affirmatively and satisfactorily shown that such 
person does not belong to one of the foregoing excluded classes, 
and that said ticket or passage was not paid for by any corpora- 
tion, association, society, municipality, or foreign government, 
either directly or indirectly; all children under sixteen years 
of age, unaccompanied by one or both of their parents, at the 
discretion of the Secretary of Commerce and Labor or under 
such regulations as he may from time to time prescribe : Pro- 
vided, That nothing in this Act shall exclude, if otherwise admis- 
sible, persons convicted of an offense purely political, not 
involving moral turpitude : Provided further, That the provisions 
of this section relating to the payments for tickets or passage 
by any corporation, association, society, municipality, or foreign 
government shall not apply to the tickets or passage of aliens 
in immediate and continuous transit through the United States 
to foreign contiguous territory: And provided further, That 
skilled labor may be imported if labor of like kind unemployed 
can not be found in this country: And provided further, That 
the provisions of this law applicable to contract labor shall 
not be held to exclude professional actors, artists, lecturers, 
singers, ministers of any religious denomination, professors 
for colleges or seminaries, persons belonging to any recognized 



640 IMMIGRATION ACT [February 20 

learned profession, or persons employed strictly as personal 

or domestic servants. 

******** 

Sec. 6. That it shall be unlawful ... to assist or encour- 
age the importation or migration of any alien by promise of 
employment through advertisements printed and pubhshed 
in any foreign country ; and any alien coming to this country 
in consequence of such an advertisement shall be treated as 
coming under promise or agreement as contemplated in section 
two of this Act . . . : Provided, That this section shall not 
apply to State or Territories, the District of Columbia, or 
places subject to the jurisdiction of the United States advertising 
the inducements they offer for immigration thereto, respect- 
ively. 

Sec. 7. That no transportation company or owner or 
owners of vessels, or others engaged in transporting aliens into 
the United States, shall, directly or indirectly, either by writ- 
ing, printing, or oral representation, solicit, invite, or encour- 
age the immigration of any aliens into the United States, but 
this shall not be held to prevent transportation companies 
from issuing letters, circulars, or advertisements, stating the 
sailings of their vessels and terms and facihties of transporta- 
tion therein .... 

Sec. 8. That any person, including the master, agent, 
owner, or consignee of any vessel, who shall bring into or land 
in the United States, by vessel or otherwise, or who shall attemipt, 
by himself or through another, to bring into or land in the 
United States, by vessel or otherwise, any alien not duly ad- 
mitted by an immigrant inspector or not lawfully entitled to 
enter the United States shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, 
and shall, on conviction, be punished by a fine not exceeding 
one thousand dollars, or by imprisonment for a term not exceed- 
ing two years, or by both such fine and imprisonment for each 
and every alien so landed or brought in or attempted to be 
landed or brought in. 

Sec. 9. That it shall be unlawful for any person, including 
any transportation company other than railway lines entering 
the United States from foreign contiguous territory, or the 
owner, master, agent, or consignee of any vessel to bring to 



1907] IMMIGRATION ACT 641 

the United States any alien subject to any of the following dis- 
abilities : Idiots, imbeciles, epileptics, or persons afflicted with 
tuberculosis or with a loathsome or dangerous contagious dis- 
ease .... 

Sec. 10. That the decision of the board of special inquiry, 
hereinafter provided for, based upon the certificate of the 
examining medical officer, shall be final as to the rejection of 
aliens affected with tuberculosis or with a loathsome or danger- 
ous contagious disease, or with any mental or physical dis- 
ability which would bring such aliens within any of the classes 
excluded from admission to the United States under section 
two of this Act. 

Sec. II. That upon the certificate of a medical officer of 
the United States Public Health and Marine Hospital Service 
to the effect that a rejected alien is helpless from sickness, 
mental or physical disability, or infancy, if such alien is accom- 
panied by another alien whose protection or guardianship is 
required by such rejected alien, such accompanying alien may 
also be excluded, and the master, agent, owner, or consignee of 
the vessel in which such alien and accompanying alien are 
brought shall be required to return said alien and accompany- 
ing alien in the same manner as vessels are required to return 

other rejected aliens. 

******** 

Sec. 19. That all aliens brought to' this country in viola- 
tion of law shall, if practicable, be immediately sent back to 
the country whence they respectively came on the vessels 
bringing them. The cost of their maintenance while on land, 
as well as the expense of the return of such aliens, shall be borne 
by the owner or owners of the vessels on which they respectively 
came; and if any master, person in charge, agent, owner, or 
consignee of any such vessel shall refuse to receive back on 
board thereof, or on board of any other vessel owned or operated 
by the same interests, such aliens, or shall fail to detain them 
thereon, or shall refuse or fail to return them to the foreign 
port from which they came, or to pay the cost of their main- 
tenance while on land, or shall make any charge for the return 
of any such alien, or shall take any security from him for the 
payment of such charge, such master, person in charge, agent, 



642 IMMIGRATION ACT [February 20 

owner, or consignee shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor 
and shall, on conviction, be punished by a fine of not less than 
three hundred dollars for each and every such offense ; and no 
vessel shall have clearance from any port of the United States 
while any such fine is unpaid : Provided, That the Commissioner- 
General of Immigration, with the approval of the Secretary 
of Commerce and Labor, may suspend, upon conditions to be 
prescribed by the Commissioner-General of Immigration, the 
deportation of any alien found to have come in violation of any 
provision of this Act, if, in his judgment, the testimony of 
such alien is necessary on behalf of the United States Govern- 
ment in the prosecution of offenders against any provision of 
this Act : Provided, That the cost of maintenance of any per- 
son so detained resulting from such suspension of deportation 
shall be paid from the "immigrant fund" but no alien certified, 
as provided in section seventeen of this Act, to be suffering from 
tuberculosis or from a loathsome or dangerous contagious disease 
other than one of quarantinable nature shall be permitted to 
land for medical treatment thereof in any hospital in the United 
States, unless with the express permission of the Secretary of 
Commerce and Labor : Provided, That upon the certificate of a 
medical officer of the United States Public Health and Marine- 
Hospital Service to the effect that the health or safety of an 
insane alien would be unduly imperiled by immediate deporta- 
tion, such alien may, at the expense of the "immigrant fund," 
be held for treatment until such time as such alien may, in the 
opinion of such medical officer, be safely deported. 

Sec. 20. That any ahen who shall enter the United States 
in violation of law, and such as become public charges from 
causes existing prior to landing, shall, upon the warrant of the 
Secretary of Commerce and Labor, be taken into custody and 
deported to the country whence he came at any time within 
three years after the date of his entry into the United States. 
Such deportation, including one-half of the entire cost of removal 
to the port of deportation, shall be at the expense of the con- 
tractor, procurer, or other person by whom the alien was un- 
lawfully induced to enter the United States, or, if that can not 
be done, then the cost of removal to the port of deportation 
shall be at the expense of the "immigrant fund" provided for 



1907] IMMIGRATION ACT 643 

in section one of this Act, and the deportation from such port 
shall be at the expense of the owner or owners of such vessel 
or transportation line by which such aliens respectively came . . . 

Sec. 21. That in case the Secretary of Commerce and Labor 
shall be satisfied that an alien has been found in the United 
States in violation of this Act, or that an alien is subject to 
deportation under the provisions of this Act or of any law of 
the United States, he shall cause such alien within the period 
of three years after landing or entry therein to be taken into 
custody and returned to the country whence he came, as pro- 
vided by section twenty of this Act, and a failure or refusal 
on the part of the masters, agents, owners, or consignees of 
vessels to comply with the order of the Secretary of Commerce 
and Labor to take on board, guard safely, and return to the 
country whence he came any alien ordered to be deported 
under the provisions of this Act shall be punished by the imposi- 
tion of the penalties prescribed in section nineteen of this Act : 
Provided, That when in the opinion of the Secretary of Com- 
merce and Labor the mental or physical condition of such alien 
is such as to require personal care and attendance, he may em- 
ploy a suitable person for that purpose, who shall accompany 
such alien to his or her final destination, and the expense incident 
to such service shall be defrayed in like manner. 

Sec. 22. That the Commissioner-General of Immigration, 
in addition to such other duties as may by law be assigned to 
him, shall, under the direction of the Secretary of Commerce 
and Labor, have charge of the administration of all laws relat- 
ing to the immigration of aliens into the United States, and shall 
have the control, direction, and supervision of all officers, 
clerks, and employees appointed thereunder. . . . 

Sec. 29. That the circuit and district courts of the United 
States are hereby invested with full and concurrent jurisdiction 
of all causes, civil and criminal, arising under any of the provi- 
sions of this Act. 

Sec. 37. That whenever an alien shall have taken up his 
permanent residence in this country, and shall have filed his 



644 ACT RELATING TO EXPATRIATION [March 2 

declaration of intention to become a citizen, and thereafter 
shall send for his wife, or minor children to join him, if said 
wife or any of said children shall be found to be affected with 
any contagious disorder, such wife or children shall be held, 
under such regulations as the Secretary of Commerce and Labor 
shall prescribe, until it shall be determined whether the disorder 
will be easily curable, or whether they can be permitted to 
land without danger to other persons ; and they shall not be 
either admitted or deported until such facts have been ascer- 
tained ; and if it shall be determined that the disorder is easily 
curable or that they can be permitted to land without danger 
to other persons, they shall, if otherwise admissible, thereupon 
be admitted. 

Sec. 38. That no person who disbelieves in or who is op- 
posed to all organized government, or who is a member of or 
affiliated with any organization entertaining and teaching such 
disbelief in or opposition to all organized government, or who 
advocates or teaches the duty, necessity, or propriety of the 
unlawful assaulting or killing of any officer or officers, either 
of specific individuals or of officers generally, of the Govern- 
ment of the United States or of any other organized government, 
because of his or their official character, shall be permitted 
to enter the United States or any territory or place subject to 

the jurisdiction thereof. . . . 

******** 

Sec. 41. That nothing in this Act shall be construed to 
apply to accredited officials of foreign governments nor to their 
suites, families, or guests. 

Approved, February 20, 1907. 



No. 196. Act relating to Expatriation 

March 2, 1907 

In pursuance of a Senate resolution of April 13, 1906, and of a report 
submitted to the House of Representatives June 6, the Secretary of State, 
Elihu Root, appointed James B. Scott, Da\-id Jayne Hill and Gaillard Hunt 



1907] ACT RELATING TO EXPATRIATION 645 

a board "to inquire into the laws and practice regarding citizenship, expa- 
triation, and protection abroad, and to report recommendations for legis- 
lation." The submission of the report of the board, which was laid before 
Congress December 18, was followed, January 14, 1907, by the introduc- 
tion in the House, by James B. Perkins of New York, of a bill relating to 
expatriation, which passed on the 21st without a division. On the 27th 
an amended bill passed the Senate without a division. The House accepted 
the Senate amendments, and March 2 the act was approved. 

References. — Text in U. S. Stat, at Large, XXXIV., Part i, 1228, 
1229. The debate was unimportant. The report of the board is House 
Doc. 326, 59th Cong., 2d Sess. 

An Act In reference to the expatriation of citizens and their protection 
abroad. 

Be it enacted . . . , That the Secretary of State shall be 
authorized, in his discretion, to issue passports to persons not 
citizens of the United States as follows : Where any person 
has made a declaration of intention to become such a citizen 
as provided by law and has resided in the United States for 
three years a passport may be issued to him entitling him to 
the protection of the Government in any foreign country: 
Provided, That such passport shall not be valid for more than 
six months and shall not be renewed, and that such passport 
shall not entitle the holder to the protection of this Government 
in the country of which he was a citizen prior to making such 
declaration of intention. 

Sec. 2. That any American citizen shall be deemed to have 
expatriated himself when he has been naturalized in any foreign 
state in conformity with its laws, or when he has taken an oath 
of allegiance to any foreign state. 

When any naturalized citizen shall have resided for two years 
in the foreign state from which he came, or for five years in 
any other foreign state it shall be presumed that he has ceased 
to be an American citizen, and the place of his general abode 
shall be deemed his place of residence during said years : Pro- 
vided, however, That such presumption may be overcome on the 
presentation of satisfactory evidence to a diplomatic or consular 
officer of the United States, under such rules and regulations 
as the Department of State may prescribe: And provided also, 
That no American citizen shall be allowed to expatriate himself 
when this country is at war. 



646 ACT RELATING TO EXPATRIATION [March 2 

Sec. 3. That any American woman who marries a foreigner 
shall take the nationality of her husband. At the termination 
of the marital relation she may resume her American citizen- 
ship, if abroad, by registering as an American citizen within 
one year with a consul of the United States, or by returning to 
reside in the United States, or, if residing in the United States 
at the termination of the marital relation, by continuing to 
reside therein. 

Sec. 4. That any foreign woman who acquires American 
citizenship by marriage to an American shall be assumed to 
retain the same after the termination of the marital relation 
if she continue to reside in the United States, unless she makes 
formal renunciation thereof before a court having jurisdiction 
to naturalize aliens, or if she resides abroad she may retain 
her citizenship by registering as such before a United States 
consul within one year after the termination of such marital 
relation. 

Sec. 5. That a child born without the United States of 
ahen parents shall be deemed a citizen of the United States 
by virtue of the naturahzation of or resumption of American 
citizenship by the parent : Provided, That such naturalization 
or resumption takes place during the minority of such child : 
And provided further, That the citizenship of such minor child 
shall begin at the time such minor child begins to reside per- 
manently in the United States. 

Sec. 6. That all children born outside the limits of the 

United States who are citizens thereof in accordance with the 

provisions of section nineteen hundred and ninety-three of 

the Revised Statutes of the United States and who continue 

to reside outside the United States shall, in order to receive 

the protection of this Government, be required upon reaching 

the age of eighteen years to record at an American consulate 

their intention to become residents and remain citizens of the 

United States and shall be further required to take the oath of 

allegiance to the United States upon attaining their majority. 
******** 

Approved, March 2, 1907. 



1913] SIXTEENTH AND SEVENTEENTH AMENDMENTS 647 

No. 197. Sixteenth Amendment 

February 25, 1913 

A joint resolution proposing an amendment to the Constitution regard- 
ing taxes on incomes, reported in the Senate, June 28, 1909, by Nelson W. 
Aldrich of Rhode Island, from the Committee on Finance, passed the Sen- 
ate, July 5, by a vote of 77 to o, 15 not voting. An unsuccessful attempt 
was made to amend the resolution by adding to it provisions substantially 
identical with those of the Seventeenth Amendment (No. 198). The reso- 
lution passed the House, July 12, by a vote of 318 to 14, i answering "pres- 
ent", 55 not voting. The amendment was ratified by all the States except 
Connecticut, Florida, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Utah and Virginia. 
A proclamation of February 25, 1913, declared the amendment in force. 

References. — Te.v/ in U. S. Stat, at Large, XXXVIL, Part 2, 1785 
For the debates see the Cong. Record, 6ist Cong., ist Sess. The important 
debate was in the House. 

Article XVI. 

The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on 
incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportion- 
ment among the several States, and without regard to any census 
or enumeration. 



No. 198. Seventeenth Amendment 

May 31, 1913 

A JOINT resolution proposing an amendment to the Constitution provid- 
ing for the popular election of Senators was reported, January 11, 191 1, by 
William E. Borah of Idaho from the Senate Committee on Judiciary, to 
which the matter had been referred, and debated at length until February 28, 
when it failed to pass, less than two-thirds voting for it. In the 6 2d Congress 
numerous resolutions relating to the subject appeared in both houses. 
A joint resolution identical with that of January 11 was presented in the 
House, April 5, 191 1, by William W. Rucker of Missouri, and on the 13th 
passed with amendments by a vote of 296 to 16, 77 not voting. An amended 
form, reported by Senator Borah May i, passed the Senate, June 12, by a 
vote of 64 to 24, 2 not voting. The House disagreed to the Senate amend- 
ments, and the resolution went to a conference committee, where it remained 
until the close of the session. April 17, 191 2, in the second session. Senator 



648 SEVENTEENTH AMENDMENT [May 31, 1913 

Clarence D. Clark of Wyoming reported that the conference committee 
were unable to agree; but on the 23d the House yielded, and May 14 the 
resolution was signed by the Speaker and the Vice-President. The amend- 
ment was ratified by all the States except .\labama, Delaware, Florida, 
Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mar>'land, INIississippi, Rhode Island, South 
CaroUna, Utah and \'irginia. A proclamation of 'May 31 declared the 
amendment in force. An act of June 4, 1914, to expire three years from its 
date, made temporary provision for the election of senators under the new 
system. 

References. — Text in U. S. Slat, at Large, XXXVHL, Part 2, 2049. 
For the debates see the Cong. Record, 6ist and 6 2d Congresses. See also 
House Report 2, 62d Cong., ist Sess.; the Sutherland minority report of 
May 22, 1911, is Senate Report 35 (also in the Record, 1428, 1429). 

Article XVII 

1. The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two 
Senators from each State, elected by the people thereof, for six 
years ; and each Senator shall have one vote. The electors in 
each State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of 
the most numerous branch of the State legislatures. 

2. When vacancies happen in the representation of any State 
in the Senate, the executive authority of such State shall issue 
writs of election to fill such vacancies : Provided, That the legis- 
lature of any State may empower the executive thereof to make 
temporary appointment until the people fill the vacancies by 
election as the legislature may direct. 

3. This amendment shall not be so construed as to affect the 
election or term of any Senator chosen before it becomes vahd as 
part of the Constitution. 



Index 



[References in Italics Indicate a Text with accompanying Notes.] 



Abarzuza, B. de, 608. 

Abolition of slavery in District of Co- 
lumbia, 450-451 ; in Territories, 452. 

Acadia, 93, 94. 

Acadians deported, 109. 

Adams, John, 162, 184, 190, 209. 

Adams, J. Q., 284, 293, 311, 324. 

Adams, Robert, 597, 599- 

Adams, Samuel, 147, 162. 

Adams, William, 293. 

Administration of Justice act, 159-162. 

Admission of Missouri, resolution for, 
317, 318; of Virginia to representa- 
tion in Congress, 544-546. 

Aix-la-Chapelle, treaty of, 109. 

Alabama admitted as a State, 311; 
admitted to representation in Congress, 

532-534- 
Alaska treaty, 511-514. 
Aldrich, Nelson W., 647. 
Alien act, 261-263. 
Alien and Sedition acts, 258-267. 
Alien Enemies act, 263-265. , 

Allison, W. B., 574. 
Amendments to Constitution, proposed 

by Hartford Convention, 296-301 ; 

thirteenth amendment, 494 ; fourteenth, 

536; fifteenth, 546, 547; sixteenth, 

647 ; seventeenth, 647, 648. 
Amnesty proclamation, 470-472. 
Amsterdam, 26. 
Andros in Connecticut, 60; in Rhode 

Island, 67 ; in Massachusetts, 84. 
Annexation of Texas, 368-370; of 

Hawaiian Islands, 600-602. 
Antietam, 457. 
Anti-Trust act, 591-593. 
Archer (Va.), 368. 
Arkansas admitted to representation in 

Congress, 530-531. 
Army, command of, 507, 508. 
Arnold, I. N., 452. 



Arthur, C. A., 572. 

Article of war, act for additional. 448, 

449- 
Articles of Confederation, 195-204; of 

impeachment, 518-529. 
Ashburton treaty, 361—368. 
Ashley, J. M., 500, 518, 529. 
Association, The, 1 66-171. 
Atherton Company, 67. 
Auchmuty, Robert, 106. 
Avalon, 31. 

Bacon, Sir Francis, 9. 

Baltimore and Ohio R. R. Co., 444. 

Baltimore, Lord, first, 31 ; second, 31, 

Si, 54, So- 

Bank of United States (second), 302- 
306; Jackson's first message, 320, 
321; second message, 322, 323; third 
message, 323; veto message, 324—329; 
removal of deposits, 344-353 ; National 
Bank act, 473-482. 

Bayard, J. A., 293, 441. 

Benton, T. H., 359. 

Bermudas, 14. 

Bernard, Francis, 146. 

Berry, A. S., 597. 

Bingham, J. A., 440, 498, 547, 554. 

Blaine, J. G., 501. 

Bland, R. P., 573, SQS- 

" Bland-Allison" act, 573-575, S96. 

Blockade of Southern ports, 434, 435. 

Bollan, William, 151, 155. 

Borah, William E., 647. 

Boston Port act, 150-154. 

Boutwell, G. S., 518. 

Bowdoin, James, 162. 

Braddock's defeat, 109. 

Bradford, William, 19. 

Breckinridge, John, 267. 

Breda, treaty of, 75. 

Brook, Lord, 36. 



649 



650 



INDEX 



Brown, B. G., 482. 
Bunau-Varilla, 623. 
Bunker Hill battle, 188. 
Burke, Edmund, 188. 
Bute, Lord, 117. 
Butler, B. F., 553, 564, 568. 
Butler, R. R., 534. 

Calhoun, J. C, 288, 302, 333. 

Call for 75,000 volunteers, 433, 434. 

Calvert, Cecil, 31. 

Calvert, George, 31. 

Cambon, Jules, 602. 

Cambridge, Mass. (Newtowne), 36. 

Camden, Lord, 147. 

Cameron, Simon, 444. 

Campaign contributions, prohibition oj, 
by corporations, 635, 636. 

Canada, 93. 

Canal Zone, 623. 

Capitol, location of national, 233. 

Carolina, first charter of, 63-66 ; second 
charter, 76-78. 

Carteret, Lord, 77, 95. 

Cerero, Rafael, 608. 

Chandler, William E., 635. 

Charter of Carolina, first, 63-66; of 
Carolina, second, 76-78; of Connecti- 
cut, 60-62 ; of Georgia, 95-103 ; of 
Maryland, 31-35 ; of Massachusetts, 
first, 22-26; of Massachusetts, second, 
84—90 ; of Pennsylvania, 80-84 1 "/ 
privileges to patrons, 26-31; of 
Rhode Island and Providence Planta- 
tions, 66-72; of Virginia, first, 1-9; 
of Virginia, second, 9-14; of Virginia, 
third, 14-19. 

Chase, S. P., 436, 446, 519. 

Chatham, Earl of, 147, 172, 188. See 
Pitt. 

Chinese Exclusion act, 616-618. 

Churchill, J. C, 554. 

Cienfuegos, 599. 

Civil Rights act, first, 494-497 ; second, 
568, 569. 

Civil Service act, 575-581. 

Claiborne, William, 306. 

Clark, Champ, 616. 

Clark, Clarence D., 648. 

Clarke, John, 66. 

Clarke, Sidney, 518. 

Clay, Henry, 293, 312, 341, 368, 383; 
resolutions on compromise of i8';o, 
384-386. 



Clayton, J. M., 324. 

Clayton-Bulwer treaty, 614. 

Cleveland, Grover, 600. 

Coddington, William, 43. 

Coinage act of 1S73, 565, 566 ; of standard 
silver dollar, 573-575. 

Coit, Joshua, 259. 

Coke, Sir Edward, i. 

Colon, revolution at, 623. 

Command of the army, 507, 508. 

Compensated emancipation, joint resolu- 
tion on, 449, 450. 

Compromise of 1850, 383-394; Clay's 
resolutions, 384-386; report of Com- 
mittee of Thirteen, 386, 387 ; Utah 
act, 387 ; Texas and New Mexico act, 
388, 389; Fugitive Slave act, 390- 
393 ; act abolishing slave trade in 
District of Columbia, 394. 

Conciliatory resolution. Lord North's, 
171, 172; report on, 184-188. 

Concord battle, 188. 

Confederate States of America, constitu- 
tion, 424-433. 

Confiscation act of 1S61, 442—444 ; of 

1862, 454-457- 
Conger, E. H., 593. 
Conkling, Roscoe, 449. 
Connecticut, fundamental orders of, 36- 

39; charter, 60-62. 
Conspiracies, act to define and punish 

certain, 441, 442. 
Constitution of American Anti-Slavery 

Society, 353-355 ; of Confederate States 

of America, 424-433; of Missouri, 

316, 317; of United States, 216-232; 

thirteenth amendment, 494 ; fourteenth 

amendment, 536-538; fifteenth atnend- 

ment, 546, 547. 
Constitutions of Virginia, Mississippi, 

and Texas, submission of, 540, 541. 
Contract between Girard Bank and United 

States, 352, 353- 
Convention parliament, 56. 
Conway, Henry, 139, 147. 
Cooper, Grey, 184. 
Cornwallis, Lord, 204. 
Council for New England, 22, 36. 
Coxe, Daniel, 63. 
Credit, act to strengthen public, 539, 

S40. 
"Crime of 1873," 565, 566. 
Crittenden, J. J., 439. 



INDEX 



651 



Cuba, independence of, 597, 598. 

CuUom, S. M., s8i. 

Curtis, B. R., dissenting opinion in Dred 

Scott case, 416-420. 
Gushing, Thomas, 162. 

Dallas, A. J., 324. 

Dane, Nathan, 209. 

Dartmouth, Lord, 188. 

Davenport, John, 39-43, 60. 

Davis, C. K, 597, 608. 

Davis, Garrett, 453. 

Davis, H. W., 482. 

Davis, Jefferson, 434. 

Dawes, H. L., 534. 

Day, W. R., 608. 

De Berdt, Dennis, 147. 

Declaration and Resolves of First Con- 
tinental Congress, 162-166. 

Declaration of causes and necessity of 
taking up arms, 176-183; of inde- 
pendence, 190-194; of war (181 2), 
288, 289; of war (1898), 598, 599. 

Declaratory act, 139, 140. 

Deposits, removal of, 344-353 ; act to 
regulate, 355-3SQ- 

Dickinson, John, 137, 176, 188, 195. 

Dillingham, WilHam P., 637. 

Dingley, Nelson, 597. 

Disabilities, political, act removing, 564. 

District of Columbia, abolition of slave 
trade, 394 ; abolition of slavery, 450, 
451 ; franchise in, 499. 

Dixon's proposed amendment to Kansas- 
Nebraska bill, 402. 

Dodderidge, Sir John, i . 

Dorchester Adventurers, 22. 

Dorchester, Mass., 36. 

Douglas, S. A., 397-399 ; report on 
Kansas-Nebraska bill, 399-402. 

"Draft act" (1863), 439-463. 

Dred Scott decision, 405-420. 

Duane, W. J., 344. 

Dutch West India Gompany, 26. 

East Florida, 306. 
Eaton, Theophilus, 39-43. 
Edmunds, G. F., 504, 535, 542. 
Elective franchise in Territories, 500. 
Electoral count (1865), 487; act of 1S77, 

570-573- 
Electoral votes of rebellious States, joint 

resolution excluding, 535. 
Eliot, T. D., 454, 488. 



Emancipation, joint resolution on com- 
pensated, 449, 450; proclamation, 

457-450- 
Embargo act, 282, 283 ; in New England, 

284. 
Endicott, John, 22. 
English bill, 420, 421. 
Enrolment act, 459-463. 
Enumerated articles, 72, 78, go. 
Expatriation, act relating to, 644—646. 

Family compact, 109. 

Federalists, 284. 

Fifteenth amendment, 546, 547 ; act to 

enforce, 547—551 ; supplementary act, 

554-559- 
First charier of Carolina, 63-66; of 

Massachusetts, 22-26; of Virginia, 1-9. 
First Civil Rights act, 494—497. 
First Continental Congress, declaration 

and resolves, 162—166. 
First Navigation act, 55-59. 
First Reconstruction act, 500-504. 
Florida, treaty of iSig, 306-311; ad- 
mitted to representation in Congress, 

532-534- 
Fontainebleau, 109. 
"Force bill" (1870), 547-551. 
Foreign mediation, resolution against, 

467-469. 
Fort Duquesne, 109. 
Fourteenth amendment, 536-538; act 

to enforce, 560—564. 
Fourth Reconstruction act, 529, 530. 
France, treaty with, for Louisiana, 279- 

282. 
Franchise in District of Columbia, 499 ; 

in Territories, 500. 
Franklin, Benjamin, 139, 176, 184, 188, 

190, 204, 209. 
Freedmen's bureau, 488-490. 
Freedom for soldiers' families, 490. 
Frye, W. P., 608. 
Fugitive Slave act, 390-393. 
Fugitive slaves, additional article of war, 

448, 449. 
Fundamental Articles of New Haven, 

39-43- 
Fundamental Orders of Connecticut, 36-39. 
Funding system, Hamilton's report, 233- 

243- 

Gadsden treaty, 394-397. 
Gallatin, Albert, 293. 



6S2 



INDEX 



Gambier, Lord, 293. 

Garfield, J. A., 571. 

Garnica, J. dc, 608. 

Garrison, W. L., 353. 

Gates, Sir Thomas, i. 

General warrants in England, 106. 

Georgia, charter, 95-103 ; admitted to 

representation in Congress, 532-534; 

reconstruction of, 542-544; act for 

restoration of, 553, 554. 
Ghent, treaty of, 289-293. 
Giles, W. B., 284. 
Girard Bank, Taney's letter to, 350, 351; 

contract with the United States, 352, 

353- 
Gold Standard act, 609-613. 
Gorton, Samuel, 43. 
Goulburn, Henry, 293. 
Government of New Haven, 50-53. 
Grant, U. S., 540, 542, 544, 566, 571. 
Grant to Duke of Vork, 74-76. 
Gray, George, 602, 608. 
Great Britain, treaty of 17S3, 204-209 ; 

of 1704, 244-258; of 18 14, 289-293; 

of 1842, 361-368; of 1846, 372-374- 
Greene, Thomas, 53. 
Grenville, Lord, 117, 122, 143, 238. 
Gridley, Jeremiah, 106. 
Guadalupe Hidalgo, treaty of, 377-3S2. 
Guilford, Conn., 50. 

Habeas Corpus act, 463-466. 

Hakluyt, Wchard, i. 

Hamilton's first report on public credit, 

233-243- 
Hancock, John, 190-194. 
Harper, R. G., 265. 
Harrison, Benjamin, 593. 
Hartford, Conn., 36. 
Hartford Convention, report of, 293-301. 
Hartley, David, 209. 
Havana, 109. 
Hawaiian Islands, annexation of, 600- 

602. 
Hay-Herran convention, 623. 
Hay-Pauncefote treaty, 614. 
Hayes, R. B., 570, 571, 574. 
Hayne, R. Y., m. 
Heath, Sir Robert, 63, 76. 
Henderson, J. B., 494. 
Hendricks, T. .\., 570. 
Henry, Patrick, 139. 
Hepburn, William P., 618. 
Hickman, John, 441. 



Hillhousc, James, 261. 
Hillsborough, Lord, 147. 
Hobart, Sir Henry, 9. 
Holy Alliance, 318. 
Howell, Benjamin F., 630. 
Hunt, Gaillard, 644. 
Hunter, David, 449. 
Hutchinson, Thomas, 106. 
Hutchinsonian controversy, 39. 

Immigration act, 636-644. 

Impeachment of Johnson, articles, 518— 

529- 
Impressment, 282. 
Independence, Declaration of, 190-194; 

of Cuba, 597, 598. 
Independent Treasury act, 374-377. 
Indianapolis Monetary Commission, 609. 
Ingersoll, C. J., 368. 
Interstate Commerce act, 581-590. 
"Iron-clad" oath, 452-454. 
Isthmian Canal, act for construction of, 

618-622. 
Isthmian Canal treaty, 614-616. 

Jackson, Andrew, first message, 320, 
321; second, 322, 323; third, 323; 
bank veto, 324-329; proclamation to 
South Carolina, 333-340; paper read 
to the Cabinet, 344-349. 

Jay, John, 176, 188, 209, 258. 

Jay treaty, 244-258. 

JefTerson, Thomas, 176, 184, 190, 233, 
267, 279, 282. 

Johnson, Andrew, 439, 491, 499, 501, 
508, 514, 518, 532; articles of im- 
peachment, 518-529. 

Johnson, Reverdy, 507. 

Johnson, Thomas, 176, 18S. 

Joint resolution for annexation of Texas, 
368-370. 

Kahn, Julius, 616. 

Kansas, Lecompton constitution, 420- 
423- 

Kansas-Nebraska act, 397-405 ; Doug- 
las's report, 399-402 ; Dixon's pro- 
posed amendment, 402 ; Sumner's 
proposed amendment, 403 ; act to 
organize Territories of Nebraska and 
Kansas, 403-405. 

Kelley, W. D., 565. 

Kelso, J. R., 5 1 8. 

Kendall, Amos, 344. 



INDEX 



653 



Kentucky and Virginia resolutions, 267- 

278. 
Kitchen cabinet, 344. 
Knox, J. J., 565. 
" Ku Kliix" act, 560-564. 

Lechmere, Thomas, 106. 

Lecompton constitution, 420-423. 

Lee, Arthur, 18S. 

Lee, R. H., 184, 190. 

Legal tender notes, act authorizing issue 

of, 446-448. 
Lexington battle, 188. 
Liliuokalani, Queen, 600. 
Lincoln, Abraham, 423, 436, 438, 449, 

450, 454, 457, 459, 463; proclamation 

regarding reconstruction, 482-487 ; 

emancipation proclamation, 457-459. 
Livingston, Philip, 141. 
Livingston, William, 176. 
Livingstone, R. R., 190, 279, 282. 
Lloyd, James, 265. 
Loan, act for a national, 436, 437. 
Loan, B. F., 518. 
Lord North's conciliatory resolution, 

171, 172; report on, 184-188. 
Louisburg, 109. 
Louisiana purchase, 279-283 ; State 

admitted to representation in Congress, 

532-534- 
Lovejoy, Owen, 452. 

Madison, James, 267, 288, 302, 306. 

Maine, battleship, destruction of, 598. 

Maine, district of, 311; boundary dis- 
pute, 361. 

Manchester, Earl of, 60. 

Manila, 109. 

Marbois, F. Barb6, 282. 

Maryland charter, 31-35; Toleration 
act, 53-55- 

Massachusetts, first charter, 22-26; second 
charter, 84-90 ; calls Stamp Act Con- 
gress, 136; calls First Continental 
Congress, 162 ; circular letter, 146- 
150; Government act, 155-159; part 
in Hartford Convention, 293. 

Mather, Increase, 84. 

Mayflower compact, 19. 

Maynard, Horace, 453. 

McCray, G. W., 570. 

McDuflSe, George, 320, 324. 

McKean, J. B., 449. 

McKinley, William, 597, 599. 



McLane, Louis, 344. 

Mexican war, act for prosecution of, 371, 
372. 

Mexico, treaty of 1S48, 377-382 ; treaty 
of iSj3, 394-397- 

Milford, Conn., 50, 51. 

Militia, act for calling out, 440, 441. 

Mississippi, provisional government of, 
538, 539; submission of contitution 
of, 540, 541- ■ • ♦ 

Missouri compromise, 311-318; Tall- 
madge's amendment, 313; Taylor's 
amendment, 313, 314 ; Thomas's amend- 
ment, 314; report of conference com- 
mittee, 314, 315; enabling act, 315, 
316; constitution, 316, 317 ; admission, 
317, 318. 

Mitchell, John H., 616. 

Molasses act, 103-105. 

Monroe, James, 279, 283 ; message 
enunciating the Monroe doctrine, 318- 
320. 

Moore, Sir Henry, 141. 

Morrill, J. S., 454, 593. 

Morton, O. P., 542. 

Napoleon, 318. 

National Bank act, 473-482 ; debt, act 
for refunding, 551—553; Loan act, 
436, 437- 

Naturalization, act of lygS, 259-261 ; 
act of IQ06, 630-635. 

Nature and object of the war, resolution 
on, 439, 440. 

Navigation act, first, 55-59 ; second, 
72-74; third, 78, 79; of 1696, 90-92. 

Neutrality, proclamation of, 243, 244. 

Newcastle, Del., 80. 

Newcastle, Duke of, 109. 

New England confederation, 45-50. 

New England Restraining act, 172-176. 

New Haven, Fundamental Articles of, 
39-43 ; government of, 50-53 ; in- 
cluded in Connecticut, 60. 

Newlands, F. G., 600. 

New Netherlands, 26, 60, 70. 

New Orleans, 279. 

Newport, R. I., 43. 

Newtowne (Cambridge), Mass., 36. 

New York Assembly, act suspending, 
141, 142. 

Non-importation in Continental Con- 
gress, 166, 167. 

Non-intercourse act, 284-288. 



654 



INDEX 



North, Chief Justice, 80. 

North, Lord, 151, 155, 159, 172, 188, 

204. 
North Carolina, proclamation appointing 

a governor for, 491-493; admitted to 

representation in Congress, 532-534. 
Northeast boundary, treaty of 1S42, 361- 

368. 
Northwest boundary, treaty of 1S46, 

372-374- • 

Nullification, South Carolina ordinance, 
329-333 ; Jackson's proclamation, sio- 
340; act for enforcing the tariff, 341- 
343- 

Oath of Office (1862), 452-454; oath 

of i<S6S, 534- 
Oglethorpe, J. E., 95. 
Onis, Luis de, 311. 
Ordinance for Virginia, 20-22; of 17S7, 

209-216. 
Oregon country, 372. 
Oregon Territory organized, 383. 
Otis, James, 106. 
Overstreet, Jesse, 609. 

Paine, R. T., 162. 

Panama, Republic of, 623. 

Panama Canal treaty, 623-630. 

Panama Canal Zone, 623. 

Paper read to the Cabinet, Jackson's, 

344, 349- 
Paris, treaty of 1763, 109-112; of 1783, 

204-209; of iSq8, 602-608. 
Patent of Providence Plantations, 43-45. 
Patroons, charter of privileges to, 26-31. 
Paxton, Charles, 105. 
Pendleton, G. H., 576. 
Penn, Richard, 188. 
Penn, William, 80. 
Pennsylvania charter, 80-84. 
Perkins, James B., 616, 645. 
Pitt, William, Earl of Chatham, 109, 

143- 
Plumb, P. B., 593. 

Political disabilities, act removing, 564. 
Polk, J. K., 368, 371. 
Popham, Sir John, i. 
Port Royal, N. S., 93, 94. 
Portsmouth, N. H., branch bank at, 320. 
Portsmouth, R. I., 43. 
Proclamation concerning America, royal, 

113-116; of rebellion, royal, 188- 

190; of neutrality, 243, 244; to South 



Carolina, 333-340; declaring block- 
ade of Southern ports, 434, 435 ; of 
emancipation, 457-459; of amnesty, 
470-472 ; regarding reconstruction, 482- 
487 ; appointing governor for North 
Carolina, 491-493. 

Providence Plantations, patent, 43-45. 

Provisional governments of Virginia, 
Texas, and Mississippi, 538, 539. 

Public credit, Hamilton's first report on, 
233-243 ; act to strengthen, 539, 540. 

Puritans in Maryland, 54. 

Quakers in Maryland, 54. 

Quartering act, 131-136; in New York, 

141. 
Quebec, 109. 
Queen Anne's war, 93. 

Railroad and telegraph lines, act authoriz- 
ing seizure of, 444, 445. 

Randolph, Edmund, 243. 

Rebellion, royal proclamation of, 188-igo. 

Recognition of independence of Cuba, 
597, 598. 

Reconstruction: Lincoln's plan, 470- 
472; proclamation regarding, 482- 
487 ; first act, 500-504 ; second act, 
508-511; third act, 514-518; fourth 
act, 529, 530; of Georgia, 542-544. 

Refunding the national debt, act for, 551- 
553- 

Reid, Whitelaw, 608. 

Removal of deposits, 344-353. 

Repeal of Silver Purchase act, 595, 596. 

Report on Lord North's conciliatory 
resolution, 184-188; of Hartford Con- 
vention, 293-301. 

Republic of Panama, 623. 

Resolutions of Stamp Act Congress, 136- 
139; /'"" admission of Missouri, 317, 
318; on nature and object of the Civil 
War, 439, 440. 

Restoration of Georgia, act for, 553, 554 ; 
of Tennessee, 498, 499. 

Resumption of specie payments, 566-568. 

Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, 
charter, 66-72. 

Rios. E. M., 608. 

Rockingham, Lord, 139, 143, 147, 204. 

Roosevelt, Theodore, 614, 619, 623, 630. 

Root, Elihu, 644. 

Royal proclamation concerning America, 
113-116. 



INDEX 



655 



Rucker, William W., 647. 

Ruggles, Timothy, 137. 

Russell, Jonathan, 2qs. 

Russia, 289, 318; Alaska treaty, 511- 

514- 
Rutledge, John, 176, 188. 

Sandys, Sir Edwin, 9. 

San Ildefonso, treaty, 279. 

San Juan, P. R., 599. 

Say and Sale, Lord, 36, 60. 

Saybrook, Conn., 36. 

Schenck, R. C, 539, 551. 

Scott, James B., 644. 

Scott, Winfield, 463. 

Secession, South Carolina ordinance, 423, 

424. 
Second chapter of Virginia, 9-14; of 

Carolina, 76-78; of Massachusetts, 

84-90; Civil Rights act, 568, 569; 

Navigation act, 72-74; Reconstruction 

act, 508-511. 
Sedition act, 265-267. 
Seven Years' War, 100. 
Seventeenth amendment, 647, 648. 
Seward, W. H., 457, 536. 
Shelburne, Earl of, 141, 147, 204. 
Shellabarger, Samuel, 560. 
Sherman, John, 473, 501, 560, 565, 566, 

SQi- 

Sherman, Roger, 190. 

Silver dollar, coinage of standard, 573- 
575- 

Silver Purchase act, 593-595 ; repeal of 
S9S, 596. 

Sixteenth amendment, 647. 

Slavery, abolition of, in District of Co- 
lumbia, 450, 451 ; in Territories, 452. 

Slave trade, abolition of, in Disrict of 
Columbia, 394. 

Soldiers^ families, freedom for, 490. 

Somers Islands, 14. 

Somers, Sir George, i. 

Sons of Liberty, 139. 

South Carolina, ordinance of nullifica- 
tion, 329-333; Jackson's proclama- 
tion to, 333—340 ; ordinance of secession, 
423, 424 ; admitted to representation in 
Congress, 532-534- 

Southold, Long Island, 50. 

Spain, Florida treaty, 306-131; declara- 
tion of war, 598, 599 ; treaty of Paris, 
602-608. 

Spanish Succession war, 93. 



Spaulding, E. G., 446. 

Specie circular. 359, 360; payments, 
resumption of, 566-568. 

Stamford, Conn., 50. 

Stamp act, 1 22-131. 

Stamp Act Congress, resolutions, 136- 
139- 

Standard silver dollar, 573-575. 

Stanton, E. M., 518 seq. 

State debts, assumption of. See Hamil- 
ton. 

Stevens, Thaddeus, 436, 464, 467, 501, 
529, 530, 532, 536. 

Stone, William, 53. 

St. Mary's, Md., 54. 

Sugar act, 1 17-122. 

Sumner, Charles, 467, 488, 494, 551, 
568; proposed amendment to Kansas- 
Nebraska bill, 403. 

Sumter, Fort, 433. 

Surplus revenue distribution, 358, 359. 

Tallmadge, amendment to the Missouri 
bill, 313. 

Taney, R. B., 344; instructions to 
collector at Philadelphia, 349, 350; 
letter to Girard Bank, 350, 351 ; opinion 
in Dred Scott case, 405-416. 

Tariff, act for enforcing, 341-343 ; 
"tarifif of abominations," 329. 

Taylor, John, 267. 

Taylor, J. W., amendment to Missouri 
bill, 313, 314- 

Tea duties, 150. 

Tennessee, restoration of, 498, 499. 

Tenure of Office act, 504-507. 

Territories, abolition of slavery in, 452 ; 
elective franchise in, 500. 

Texas, joint resolution for annexation, 
368-370; Texas and New Mexico 
act, 388, 389 ; provisional govern- 
ment, 538, 539; submission of con- 
stitution, 540, 541. 

Thacher, Oxenbridge, 106. 

The Association, 1 66-171. 

Third charter of Virginia, 14-19 ; Naviga- 
tion act, 78, 79; Reconstruction act, 
514-518. 

Thirteenth amendment, 494. 

Thomas, amendment to Missouri bill, 314 

Tilden, S. J., 570. 

Tillman, Benjamin R., 635. 

Tobacco trade, 78. 

Toleration act, Maryland, 53-55. 



656 



INDEX 



Topeka constitution, 420. 

Townshend, Charles, 117; Revenue act, 
143-146. 

Treaty of Utrecht, 93-95 ; of Paris. 
(1763), 109-112; of 1783, 204-209 
of 1704, 244-258; of 1803, 279-282 
of 1814, 289-293; of 1810, 306-311 
of 1842, 361-368; of 1846, 372-374 
of 1848, 377-382 ; of 1853, 394-397 
of 1867, 511-514; of i8q8, 602-608 
Isthmian Canal, 614-616. 

Trist, N. P., 377- 

Trumbull, Lyman, 442, 494, 514. 

Turpie, David, 597. 

Tyler, John, 374. 

Urrutia, W. R. de Villa, 608. 
Utah act, 387. 
Utrecht treaty, 93-95- 

Van Buren, Martin, 368. 

Verplanck, G. C, 341. 

Virginia and Kentucky resolutions, 267- 
278. 

Virginia, first charter, 1-9 ; second 
charter, 9-14; third charter, 14-19; 
ordinance for, 20-22; resolutions on 
Stamp act, 139; resolutions of 1708, 
274-276; provisional government, 538, 
539 ; submission of constitution, 540, 
54 1 ; admission to representation in 
Congress, 544-546. 

Volunteers, call for 75,000, 433, 434; 
act authorizing employment of, 438. 



Wade, B. F., 444, 499, 500. 

"Wade-Davis" bill, 482-487. 

War, declaration of, 181 2, 288, 289; 

declaration of, i8q8, 598, 599. 
Warwick, Earl of, 36, 43. 
Warwick, R. I., 43. 
Washington, George, 109, 176, 216, 243, 

245- , 

Watertown, Mass., 36. 
Wayne, J. M., 321, 322. 
Webster, Daniel, 368. 
West Florida, 306. 
Westminster treaty, 75. 
Wethersfield, Conn., 36. 
Weymouth, George, i. 
Wheeler, W. A., 570. 
White, A. S., 449. 
White, E. D., 602. 
Wilkins, William, 341. 
WiUiams, G. H., 504. 
Williams, Roger, 43. 
Wilmot proviso, 383. 
Wilson, Henry, 438, 450, 459, 490. 
Wilson, J. F., 453. 
Wilson, W. L., 595. 
Windsor, Conn., 36. 
Winthrop, John, 36, 60. 
Woodbury, Levi, 360. 
Writ of Assistance, 105-109. 
•Wyandotte constitution, 421. 

Yancey, W. L., 383. 

Yeardley, Sir George, 20. 

York, Duke of, 60, 80 ; grant to, 74-76- 



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